[2022 National Audit] Democratic Party's Attack on President Yoon's In-Laws' Special Favor Allegations in Yangpyeong

The National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit of Gyeonggi Province held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office on the 14th

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] On the 14th, during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee’s audit of Gyeonggi Province, the Democratic Party of Korea launched an offensive by raising suspicions of special favors related to the calculation of development charges for the Gongheung District in Yangpyeong, which is linked to President Yoon Seok-yeol’s in-laws, and the land use change in Byeongsan-ri, Yangpyeong.

Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Cheol-min questioned, “Last year, Gyeonggi Province conducted a special audit on the Gongheung District development and requested an investigation into illegalities related to permits, but isn’t the action regarding the calculation of development charges insufficient?”

He added, “The development charge was initially notified as 1.7 billion KRW, then reduced to zero, and later Yangpyeong County re-imposed it at 180 million KRW. There is a judgment that at least 700 to 800 million KRW should have been imposed. Then, shouldn’t more than 600 million KRW be additionally collected? Has the province taken any action?”

In response, Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon said, “Regarding the retroactive application of permit extensions and development charges in Yangpyeong County, illegalities were confirmed, so a formal warning was issued to Yangpyeong County and an investigation was requested. I can talk about the audit contents, but other matters are under investigation, so we will wait for the investigation results.”

The development suspicion in Gongheung District, Yangpyeong, concerns the 22,411㎡ area in Gongheung-ri, Yangpyeong County, which was changed from public to private development in 2016, allegedly granting various special favors to ESI&D, a family company of President Yoon’s mother-in-law.

Yangpyeong County initially planned to impose a development charge of 1.748 billion KRW on ESI&D in November 2016 but decided on zero KRW the following year, and then belatedly imposed about 187 million KRW in November last year.

During the audit, suspicions of illegalities related to the land use change permit for land in Byeongsan-ri, Yangpyeong, owned by President Yoon’s wife Kim Geon-hee’s family, were also raised.

Democratic Party lawmaker Han Jun-ho pointed out, “To change the terrain of a mountain area, a land use change permit from the relevant local government is required, but the three plots inherited by Kim Geon-hee’s family from her father, which are designated as ‘mountain,’ did not follow this procedure.”

He emphasized, “According to the 2011 Land Use Manual, conditions for changing and registering the designation (like the Byeongsan-ri land) mostly apply when the land has already been registered as changed, when an application for registration change has been submitted, or when it is confirmed that the surrounding area is registered, allowing judgment on whether registration change is possible. Kim Geon-hee’s family’s land use change does not meet these conditions, so there is a high possibility that Yangpyeong County granted special favors.”

Governor Kim replied, “The permit authority is the Yangpyeong County Governor, so I do not know the details.”

Lawmaker Han also raised issues with the Presidential Office’s related response. He said, “The Presidential Office rebutted that the land, whose designation was changed to increase its value, has been held for 35 years. There is a strong suspicion that the land underwent several ‘operations’ such as changing from mountain land to regular land to increase its value.”

He stressed, “Gyeonggi Province should conduct an audit to determine whether the land was held for 35 years and then changed as the Presidential Office claims, or whether Yangpyeong County granted special favors.”

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