Incheon Namdong District Mayor Denies Real Estate Speculation Allegations... Civic Group Files Complaint for Violation of Farmland Act

Civic Group Claims "Land Purchases Aimed at Benefiting from Road Expansion and Development"
District Mayor Denies Speculation Allegations, Says "Farming Until Election" to Prevent Land Price Inflation

Lee Kang-ho, Mayor of Namdong-gu, Incheon

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] A civic group has raised allegations of real estate speculation against Lee Gang-ho, mayor of Namdong-gu, Incheon, and filed a complaint with the police. However, Mayor Lee has fully denied the speculation allegations, stating that he purchased the land to farm in his old age.

The Incheon Namdong Peace Welfare Solidarity announced on the 7th that it had filed a complaint with the police against Mayor Lee for violating the Farmland Act.

According to the public official asset disclosure released last month, Mayor Lee owns 4,141㎡ of land in eight locations around Namsan-ri, Taean-eup, Chungnam. Except for 18㎡ of residential land, the rest is all farmland (paddy fields), with a current value reported to be about 113.34 million KRW.

According to the certified copy of the register, Mayor Lee jointly purchased the land with a teacher, Mr. A, from late 2015 to early 2016. At that time, Mayor Lee was a member of the Incheon City Council, and Mr. A was serving as an education committee member.

The Incheon Namdong Peace Welfare Solidarity claimed, "It appears that Mayor Lee purchased the land anticipating development benefits such as road expansion and has violated the Farmland Act for over five years." According to the Farmland Act, farmland cannot be owned unless it is used for one's own agricultural management or by someone who will use it.

The group also stated, "After being elected mayor in 2018, Mayor Lee retained ownership of the farmland until recently and transferred ownership to Mr. A only after speculation allegations arose. This is an admission that there was a problem."

In response, Mayor Lee explained that the land was not originally expected to be an area for speculation or similar purposes and was purchased for leisure activities and preparation for old age.

He said, "Although the cadastral survey divides it into eight plots, it is actually two parcels totaling about 1,200 pyeong (approximately 3,966㎡). I purchased it jointly with Mr. A, with whom I had a friendly relationship, intending to farm in my old age. We grew various crops such as soybeans, but after assuming office as mayor in 2018, I had little time and paused farming activities."

He also claimed, "(This act) was recognized as exempt from the obligation to dispose of farmland due to 'taking office following an election' under the Farmland Act," and argued, "Considering the difference between the land purchase time and the road expansion construction time, the suspicion of speculation aiming at land price increase is groundless."

The recent five-year official land price increase for the land is known to be between 3,000 KRW and 12,000 KRW per pyeong. Compared to the overall annual average increase rate of 4-5% in Taean-gun, Mayor Lee explained that the scale is not enough to expect speculative profits from price increases.

Regarding the reason for transferring land ownership, he explained, "Considering the social atmosphere triggered by speculation allegations such as those involving the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), I judged that a prolonged fallow period might cause misunderstandings, so I recently transferred the land to Mr. A."

Meanwhile, the police stated, "We have received the complaint from the civic group and are reviewing its contents," and added, "We will conduct a fair and prompt investigation."

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