[단독] “In two years, the land price has increased by 50%”… ‘LH employees dumping 10 billion land’ on site in Siheung, Gwangmyeong

◆ LH speculative suspicion overwhelming ◆

“I heard that when the land was sold last year, it received 1.2 million to 1.3 million won per 3.3 square meter (1 pyeong), but the market price is 1.8 million to 2 million won.”

The area around 178, Gwarim-dong, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do, visited on the 3rd was a desolate field and a stack of building materials. This place, which takes 40-50 minutes by car from Yeouido, Seoul, is a place under suspicion that before the Gwangmyeong Siheung District was selected as the 3rd new city, the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) employees were speculating on the ground.

This area was where local residents were farming paddy fields until 2019. LH employees began becoming owners of the region around June 2019. If the brokerage analysis is correct, those who bought the land last year recorded a 50% return in less than two years.

A resident who has been farming in the neighborhood for about 20 years said, “There is no exchange of the body in this area, so we have no interest in who bought the land or who the owner.” “(The owner changed) and we started planting trees here in the spring of last year. “I don’t have to face each other even if I come to water occasionally because all I need to do is give water.” Unknown trees are planted in this area under suspicion of speculation. Experts believe that the reason for planting seedlings is to receive more compensation. Farming land is divided into’orchards, fields, and rice paddies’, of which the compensation for orchards is the largest. One expert explained, “It can be proved that you are farming, and if you claim that you were using it as an orchard, you will get a lot of compensation.”

While the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is conducting a thorough investigation of allegations of speculation in the 3rd new town, the suspicious situation surrounding 13 LH employees who are suspected of speculation in the Gwangmyeong Siheung New City is revealed one by one.

According to the Maeil Economic Daily’s registered copy, five out of 13 employees who were suspected of speculation in advance worked at the Gyeonggi Regional Headquarters before being suspended. Three of them worked together with the Gwacheon Uiwang Project Headquarters, and one of them was known to be in charge of compensation for one of the 3rd new towns. The other two were also working together at the residential welfare agency. Three of these five employees invested 1.510 billion won on June 3, 2019, along with one other employee at the Gwangju-Jeonnam Regional Headquarters, to purchase 3996㎡ of land in Guarim-dong, Siheung. In the process, two people each received a loan of 455 million won and the other was 234 million won with land as collateral from the North Siheung Agricultural Cooperative Association. The other two also acquired a total of 5025m2 of 4 lots of land in Guarim-dong, Siheung, for 2.25 billion won, along with fellow employees working at the Incheon Regional Headquarters. They also borrowed 400 million to 500 million won each from the Nonghyup. Most of the other employees who are suspicious of speculation have also invested with fellow employees. One real estate expert said, “It seems that close employees have taken action by sharing investment information.”

A real estate agent in Siheung supported the speculation, saying, “Gwarim-dong and Mujinae-dong were not areas where land transactions were frequent, but there are rumors that LH employees are going to buy land from around 2019.”

Most of the parcels they bought were known as jeon (field) and answer (field). It is a land that can live only when a plan to farm is made. On the previous day, at the press conference, the Participatory Solidarity and the Attorneys’ Meeting for Democratic Society criticized, “As it is impossible to properly farm while working at LH, they must have submitted false and exaggerated agricultural management plans.” If it is confirmed that a false plan has been submitted, it will be punished for violating the Farmland Law. Seven of the employees involved in the suspicion were found to be in their mid-to-late 50s before retirement at the age of 60, and some employees were known to have no special positions due to the wage peak system. Of the 13 people, virtually no people lived in Siheung City. An employee working at the Incheon Regional Headquarters purchased the land in Siheung Gwarim-dong twice from 2019 to 2020.At the time of the first land purchase in 2019, he was living in Gangnam, Seoul. Changed. The remaining 12 were addressed in Seongnam, Suwon, and Seoul.

On that day, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, “The 13 LH employees have confirmed that they have acquired 12 parcels in the area and have completed the position system.” “We will establish a new system that prohibits it.”

[김동은 기자 / 정석환 기자 / 유준호 기자]
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