Woo Sang-ho "No Charges Under Farmland Act Not Due to Statute of Limitations Expiry"

Woo Sang-ho, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea./Photo by Yoon Dong-ju

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Woo Sang-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, strongly refuted a National Rights Commission official's explanation that the allegations of violating the Farmland Act against him were dismissed due to the statute of limitations having expired, calling it "deeply regrettable."

On the 26th, Woo posted on his Facebook, saying, "I thought the issue of violating the Farmland Act was settled with the police's decision of no charges, but I would like to clarify again against claims that it was dismissed due to the statute of limitations having passed."

Woo explained, "The key point is the second item: 'There is suspicion of violating the Farmland Act due to illegal farmland conversion as a graveyard appears to have been established on one parcel of land.' It is true that three graves have been established on the said parcel. The Rights Commission claims that establishing graves on land designated as farmland constitutes a violation of the Farmland Act."

He continued, "However, the subject is missing. The three graves were not established by Woo Sang-ho but by villagers. The graves were already there years before Woo purchased the land, so farming on that parcel is impossible. The graves are being tolerated and waited on until the descendants are ready to relocate them," he asserted.

Woo further stated, "The police's decision to dismiss the case was not because 'the statute of limitations had expired,' but because it was recognized that farming was impossible for these reasons. Therefore, my no-charge decision regarding the farmland violation is unrelated to the statute of limitations."

Earlier, on the 23rd, after announcing the results of a full investigation into real estate transactions of lawmakers from six parties including the People Power Party, the National Rights Commission explained during a press inquiry that Woo Sang-ho was not booked, stating, "We understand it was dismissed due to the statute of limitations having expired," which drew criticism that the investigation was inappropriate.

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