Police Conduct Search and Seizure at Yangpyeong County Office Over Alleged Special Treatment of Yoon's Mother-in-Law in Gongheung District (Update)

The non-affiliated chairpersons belonging to the Democratic Party of Korea's Non-Affiliated Chairpersons Council shouted slogans urging an investigation into the "alleged preferential treatment in the development of Gongheung District in Yangpyeong by Yoon Seok-yeol's in-laws" in front of Gongheung District, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do on the 1st of this month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The police are conducting a search and seizure at Yangpyeong County Office on the 30th in connection with the 'Yangpyeong Gongheung District preferential treatment suspicion' involving the company of Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party.

The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency dispatched investigators to Yangpyeong County Office around 9:30 a.m. to secure related materials. A police official said, "It is difficult to confirm specific details," and added, "We plan to investigate strictly according to law and principles."

On the 21st, Gyeonggi Province requested an investigation by the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency into four public officials from the Urban Division and Land Information Division of Yangpyeong County Office, as well as Yoon's mother-in-law, Choi Eun-soon. This was due to illegal activities confirmed during a special audit conducted earlier in Yangpyeong County.

The Gongheung District development project was initially planned by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) to build national rental housing on 22,411㎡ in Gongheung-ri, Yangpyeong County, but LH abandoned the project in July 2011, and it was then pursued as a private development. The project implementer was ESI&D, the company of Yoon's in-laws. However, Yangpyeong County allegedly changed and announced the project implementation plan approval period from November 2014 to July 2016, despite the implementer not applying for an extension.

Additionally, in November 2016, Yangpyeong County attempted to impose a development charge of about 1.7 billion KRW on ESI&D for the Gongheung District but decided the final charge to be zero the following year. The county reportedly belatedly corrected and imposed 187 million KRW last month, prompting the Democratic Party to raise suspicions of preferential treatment.

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