Ruling Party Takes 'Eupchammaseok' Decision to Eradicate Real Estate Speculation, Urges 12 Members to Resign... Yoon Mi-hyang and Yang Yi-won-young Expelled (Comprehensive)

List of 12 Members Including Woo Sang-ho, Oh Young-hoon, Yang Yi-won-young, and Yoon Mi-hyang Revealed

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Jeon Jin-young] The Democratic Party of Korea has taken a tough stance by urging all 12 of its members implicated in real estate speculation allegations to leave the party. Since the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal, the Democratic Party had pledged to take strong measures to eradicate real estate speculation, drawing attention to how it would respond to the results of this comprehensive investigation. The Democratic Party has urged all 12 members found to have engaged in illegal transactions or other misconduct in the real estate investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission to leave the party and requested that they cooperate with investigations as independent members.

On the 8th, the Democratic Party publicly disclosed the names of all 12 members implicated in illegal transactions or other misconduct based on the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s real estate investigation results. Among them, four members including Yoon Mi-hyang, Kim Ju-young, Kim Hoe-jae, and Moon Jin-seok are suspected of 'real estate name trust' allegations, three members including Kim Han-jung, Seo Young-seok, and Lim Jong-sung are involved in 'use of confidential information in the course of duty' allegations, and five members including Woo Sang-ho, Yang Yi-won-young, Oh Young-hoon, Yoon Jae-gap, and Kim Soo-heung face 'violations of the Farmland Act' allegations.

Senior Spokesperson Ko Yong-jin held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office in the afternoon and stated, "At the last party convention, all candidates for party leader pledged to respond strictly to this issue," adding, "After discussion at today’s Supreme Council meeting, it was decided to urge all 12 members to leave the party."

Spokesperson Ko said, "Although this is an excessive preemptive measure based on the presumption of innocence, we expect that by stepping down from their ruling party member status and cooperating fairly as independent members, they will resolve the suspicions cleanly to restore public trust."

Party leader Song Young-gil received the list of 12 members implicated in real estate speculation allegations the day before. Spokesperson Ko said, "Leader Song received the list yesterday and was deeply troubled, unable to sleep," adding, "Although the colleagues’ protests of innocence are vivid, the party leadership has decided to request acceptance of this measure from the standpoint of putting the party’s interests first."

He continued, "Please remember why our party undertook this comprehensive investigation with the consent of all members," and added, "We will keep the door open and wait for our colleagues to clear their suspicions and return to the Democratic Party as soon as possible."

Among the 12 members implicated in real estate speculation allegations, the Democratic Party plans to expel two proportional representation members, Yoon Mi-hyang and Yang Yi-won-young. Since proportional representation members lose their seats upon leaving the party, this measure is interpreted as a form of expulsion.

Spokesperson Ko said, "We hope a thorough investigation will be conducted promptly to distinguish the innocent from the guilty," and urged, "The members involved should cooperate sincerely with the investigation and actively submit explanatory materials to resolve the suspicions."

In March, the Democratic Party requested a comprehensive investigation of real estate transactions involving 174 affiliated lawmakers and their immediate family members from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission under the name of Interim Chairman Kim Tae-nyeon, in relation to the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and public officials’ real estate speculation allegations. Commissioner Jeon Hyun-hee voluntarily excluded herself from the investigation due to her affiliation with the Democratic Party, and a special investigation team including members recommended by opposition parties conducted the investigation from April 2 to June 7, covering a total of 816 people including the lawmakers themselves, their spouses, and immediate family members. Among them, 12 lawmakers were implicated in real estate speculation allegations. Since the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission lacks compulsory investigative authority and has limitations in fact-finding, it requested investigative agencies to look into insufficient explanations and transferred the case to the police special investigation headquarters.

Following the party’s announcement of these measures, the implicated lawmakers quickly issued explanations. Yoon Mi-hyang posted on Facebook in the afternoon, stating, "My parents-in-law lived in a rural house in Hamyang under my sister-in-law’s name, but after my father-in-law passed away in March 2015, my mother-in-law could not live there alone and had to sell the house," adding, "During the process of purchasing a house in Hamyang for my mother-in-law to live alone, due to family circumstances, the house was purchased under my husband’s name, and the proceeds from the sale of the rural house were used. This was done considering my elderly mother-in-law’s situation."

Lawmaker Woo Sang-ho also refuted the allegations, saying, "I cannot accept the judgment that this constitutes a violation of the Farmland Act." After the announcement by Senior Spokesperson Ko regarding the investigation, Woo issued a statement saying, "The land purchase occurred unavoidably during the process of securing a burial site following my mother’s sudden death," and added, "All administrative procedures have since been fully completed."

He explained, "On June 9, 2013, my mother, who was battling cancer, suddenly passed away, and in the confusion, I looked for land for a burial site. I urgently purchased land designated as farmland," adding, "When I inquired at Pocheon City Hall, I was informed that obtaining a burial permit would take considerable time, so I was advised to temporarily bury and then obtain development permission."

Regarding cultivation, he said, "Since 2013, I have continuously farmed the land," and added, "Two-thirds of the land is planted with apple, plum, and jujube trees, and the remaining one-third is used to grow corn, soybeans, cabbage, radish, chives, green onions, and sweet potatoes."

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