Ministry of Land and LH Employees Excluded from 'Daeto Compensation'... Blocking Illegal Speculation Using Non-Public Information

Follow-up Measures for LH Employees' Real Estate Speculation
Land Compensation Act Passed by National Assembly...Enforcement in 6 Months
Enhanced Safety Management Following Gwangju Collapse Accident

[Image source=Yonhap News]

From now on, employees of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) involved in related work will be excluded from the target of land compensation in exchange for land. Accordingly, it is expected to become impossible for public officials or public institution employees to engage in illegal real estate speculation in advance using undisclosed development information.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that the "Act on the Acquisition and Compensation of Land for Public Projects (Land Compensation Act)" containing these provisions passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 11th.

This amendment to the Land Compensation Act is a follow-up measure to the "Measures to Eradicate Real Estate Speculation and Prevent Recurrence" prepared in response to last year's allegations of real estate speculation by LH executives and employees in new towns.

According to the amendment, those involved in public projects and those who violate prohibited acts under land-related laws will be excluded from the target of land compensation in exchange for land, and land compensation in exchange for land will be conducted only for those who meet the requirements prescribed by Presidential Decree, such as land holding period.

Those involved in related work include employees of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, project implementers, public project licensing authorities, and institutions subject to consultation or opinion hearing before the announcement of the public project plan (central administrative agencies, local governments, public institutions, local public enterprises).

Also, if there is competition due to a large number of applicants wishing for land compensation in exchange for land, the recipients will be selected in order of the longest land holding period.

In the case of relocation housing sites and houses, resale is restricted until ownership transfer registration is completed, and if resale prohibition or violation of related laws occurs, relocation settlement money will be paid instead of the right to supply relocation housing sites and houses.

The amendment is scheduled to take effect six months after promulgation. The exclusion of related workers from land compensation in exchange for land and the priority of land compensation by land holding period will apply from the time the compensation plan is announced or notified after the effective date.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained, "Through the amendment of the Land Compensation Act, it is expected to block illegal real estate speculation using undisclosed development information, help the original residents who have lived in the public project target areas for a long time to resettle, and share development benefits."

On the same day, amendments to the Building Management Act and the Housing Act also passed the plenary session of the National Assembly.

The amendment to the Building Management Act is part of the "Measures to Strengthen Safety in Demolition Work" prepared after the collapse accident during demolition work in Gwangju in June last year.

According to the amendment, from now on, important demolition plans in demolition design must be prepared by experts such as architects and engineers and reviewed by the local architectural committee. Even for small-scale buildings, if there are risk factors such as bus stops nearby, demolition permits must be obtained, expanding the scope of demolition permit targets.

Also, to improve on-site safety management levels, safety standards for demolition workers will be newly established, and the duties of demolition supervisors will be added, strengthening safety standards for those involved in demolition work.

On-site inspections by permit authorities will also be mandatory, and the mandatory education for demolition supervisors will be improved to be site-centered, increasing the education hours from 16 to 35 hours.

The amendment is scheduled to take effect six months after promulgation and will apply to demolition applications submitted after the effective date.

The amendment to the Housing Act is a follow-up measure to the "Introduction Plan for Post-Verification System of Floor Impact Noise" announced by the government in June 2020 to more effectively improve inter-floor noise issues.

Until now, the project owner only needed to construct apartment buildings according to a structure that had been pre-approved for floor impact noise blocking performance, but from now on, after construction, the project owner must also receive a floor impact noise blocking performance inspection from an institution designated by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

If the floor impact noise blocking performance is found to be below the standard, the inspection authority will recommend the project owner to take measures such as repair, reinforcement, or compensation, and the project owner must report the results of those measures to the inspection authority.

The amendment is scheduled to take effect six months after promulgation and will apply to applications for project plan approval submitted after the effective date.

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