'Real Estate Speculation Allegations' Lawmakers Yang Hyang-ja, Kim Kyung-man, and Seo Young-seok Cleared... Police Investigation Concluded

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The police have decided not to prosecute and have closed the investigation into Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Yang Hyang-ja, Kim Kyung-man, and Seo Young-seok, who were suspected of real estate speculation.

The Special Investigation Unit for Real Estate Speculation Crimes of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency announced on the 21st that the three lawmakers were cleared of charges.

Lawmaker Yang faced speculation over land in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi Province, purchased in 2015, but the police determined that at the time, Yang was an office worker and was not in a position to obtain undisclosed development information. It was confirmed that the land was purchased through a planned real estate company, so the police concluded that charges under the Anti-Corruption Act could not be applied. Lawmaker Kim was suspected in connection with land in Siheung-si purchased twice in 2016 and 2018 by his spouse along with an acquaintance, but the police cleared him for the same reasons.

In the case of Lawmaker Seo, suspicion arose that he speculated near a development area with land purchased in Bucheon-si in 2015 during his time as a Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly member. However, the police concluded that since the purchase was made after the development project information had already been publicly disclosed, it was difficult to consider it speculation using insider information. It was also confirmed that the acquaintance who purchased the land with Lawmaker Seo is still cultivating it, so there was no violation of the Farmland Act.

A police official stated, "We conducted extensive investigations including on-site inspections of the suspected speculation sites, people who introduced the sites, and those who purchased the real estate, but no evidence of wrongdoing was found."

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