Police Sacrifice Weekend for 'Real Estate Speculation Investigation'... Raids and Summons Continue

Focused Investigation on Data Analysis and Witness Summons
Increase in Compulsory Investigations Expected
Special Prosecutor Discussions Could Influence... Investigation Likely to Accelerate

On the 4th, the signboard of the National Investigation Headquarters hung at the Seoul Seodaemun-gu Police Agency. From this year, the police organization has been divided into national, autonomous, and investigative police, and with the abolition of the prosecutor's investigation command authority, the police have gained the primary investigation conclusion authority, drawing significant attention to the National Investigation Headquarters overseeing investigations. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Allegations of real estate speculation triggered by employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) are gaining momentum. Police, who have been working through the weekend analyzing seized items and investigating complainants, plan to continue forced investigations this week, including searches and seizures of related parties and summons of suspects.

According to the police on the 22nd, the Government Joint Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Headquarters), led by the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters (NIH), devoted the weekend to reviewing seized items and suspect statements, as well as verifying the facts of tips received through the police reporting center.

First, the police began analyzing data on 23 individuals, including local government officials and employees of local public enterprises, who were requested for investigation by the Government Joint Investigation Team. The police have started preliminary investigations on these individuals and plan to either assign the cases to provincial police agencies or conduct direct investigations through the NIH once the data review is completed.

Fact-finding on additional speculation allegations raised by civic groups was also conducted simultaneously. Regarding allegations of violations of the Farmland Act and name borrowing related to farmland in the Gwarim-dong area of Siheung-si, Gyeonggi Province, raised by the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) on the 17th, the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency summoned Kwon Min-sik, head of the Judicial Examination Preparation Group, on Saturday the 20th as a complainant for investigation. The police have already completed a preliminary inspection of the farmland and are expected to receive related materials from the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Minbyun.

It was also reported that the police are analyzing materials seized from Sejong City Hall in connection with the ‘Sejong Smart National Industrial Complex’ speculation case, which involves allegations of involvement by officials from Sejong City and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The materials secured by the police include meeting minutes detailing consultations between Sejong City and the Sejong City Council before the designation of the Smart Industrial Complex, records of staff working in the secretariat at the time, land transaction details of the Smart Industrial Complex, and PCs of Ministry of the Interior and Safety officials who were in close contact with the implicated Sejong City officials, suggesting that investigations related to the use of insider information will accelerate.

Based on these weekend investigations, searches and summons related to speculation allegations are expected to continue this week. For the 23 individuals additionally requested for investigation, full-scale searches and seizures are likely to proceed as soon as evidence of wrongdoing is confirmed. Furthermore, as allegations are raised through various channels such as civic group complaints and tips received via the reporting center, the number of forced investigations by the police is expected to increase for the time being.

Amid ongoing discussions between ruling and opposition parties on the introduction of a special prosecutor, the police plan to accelerate investigations as much as possible before the official launch of the special prosecutor. The political circle estimates that it will take at least two months for the special prosecutor to be properly established. Earlier, Nam Gu-jun, head of the NIH, stated, "Regardless of discussions on the special prosecutor, we will clarify the allegations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.