[Desk Column] Common Sense Found Only in 'Daejangdong'

[Asia Economy Jeong Doohwan, Deputy Director and Head of Construction and Real Estate Department] The prosecution investigation surrounding the Daejang-dong development scandal is reaching a turning point. As key figures involved in the project at the time are being arrested one after another, the prosecution's investigation appears to be accelerating on the surface.

Meanwhile, the political sphere is lining up legislation to prevent a second Daejang-dong incident. The approach is that the Daejang-dong scandal was caused by a flawed system, and changing it can solve the problem. However, experts with extensive experience in development projects do not agree with this approach. Rather, the claim by former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon that "this is not a problem of the type of development but an issue of organized corruption" is closer to the essence.

Let's briefly go back to the beginning. Why do the public view the Daejang-dong development with suspicion and anger? The answer is surprisingly simple. The Daejang-dong development is too far removed from our common sense.

The gap from common sense starts with the definition of the Daejang-dong project that Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, asserted immediately after the allegations were raised. Lee, who admitted to having directly designed the Daejang-dong project as the mayor of Seongnam at the time, described the nature of the project as 'public development.'

The typical example of public development that the reporter recalls is the development of Pangyo New Town during the Participatory Government. At that time, to prevent the private sector from making enormous profits from soaring housing prices, the government converted the medium- and large-sized apartment projects in Pangyo New Town into public development. Instead of selling the land to the private sector, the public corporation Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH, formerly Korea Housing Corporation) acted as the developer and sold the apartments directly.

Daejang-dong chose a distinctly different project method. Although Seongnam Urban Development Corporation participated in 'Seongnam-e Tteul' as the developer with more than a 50% stake, it did not actually engage in the project. Unlike the typical project structure where the major shareholder leads the Asset Management Company (AMC), this project's AMC, Hwacheon Daeyu, did not even have a single employee sent from the public side. Moreover, the public sector pursued only guaranteed profits and even gave up decision-making authority. The public nature of the project was exchanged for 'money.' Experts point out that this is not public development but a private development disguised as a public-private joint project.

The gap from common sense grows even larger when looking at the participants in the project. Yoo Dong-gyu, who had no significant public office experience and was a former remodeling association chairman before becoming the planning director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, is one example. Regardless of whether he committed any wrongdoing during the 1.5 trillion won development project, the fact that he was in a leading position in this project itself is irrational. Even Governor Lee himself cannot clearly explain why Yoo was in that position.

Kim Man-bae is also a reason why we cannot rationally accept the Daejang-dong project. He was an active journalist not only when the Daejang-dong development began in 2014 but also recently when the allegations surfaced. We still do not understand how an active journalist could not only participate as a shareholder in an astronomical development project but also lead the project directly.

There are fundamental questions remaining about various legal professionals who directly or indirectly assisted this project through Kim. The appearance of prominent figures such as former special prosecutors, Supreme Court justices, and members of the National Assembly, as well as some of their children, merely because they are 'close older brothers,' is far from our universal common sense.

It is the role of the prosecution, police investigation, and court judgment to clarify how the private developer obtained astronomical profits beyond common sense, what roles the involved figures played in decision-making and permits, and whether illegal acts occurred during the process. However, if the prosecution and police investigations fail to resolve the public's fundamental suspicions about the 'their own common sense' that is far removed from general common sense, the Daejang-dong scandal will inevitably remain an 'ongoing issue.'

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