Input 2021.03.05 20:16 | Revision 2021.03.05 21:09
According to a report by MBC on the 5th, Minister Byun said through a text message exchanged with a reporter, “I don’t think I bought the land in advance because I knew the development information. I thought that the new town could not be developed, and I bought it, but I think it was suddenly designated as a new town.” He said, “It is stupid to buy the land in a new city that is fully accepted, and there is no merit because it is purchased as a connoisseur.”
It is a remark that can be accepted in the sense that it is not speculation. Minister Byeon said, “I did not buy the land to get compensation for the new city development information,” he said. “I think it is highly likely that the land will be bought because it will be developed in the private sector after 2025.”
As the controversy spread, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport sent a text message to reporters at around 11:20 on the same day, emphasizing that “Several times, public company employees’ real estate speculation has been’unprecedented in occupational ethics’ and’must not be done’. He said, “We are very sorry to hear that a broadcast that may be misunderstood as protecting LH has been reported.”
However, Minister Byeon admitted to his fault through a second message sent around 7 pm. Minister Byun said, “Even though real estate speculation by employees of public companies that develop land publicly for any reason is unacceptable, it is unclear to me that the speculation has been seen as a doom by explaining the reasons for speculation by LH employees.” He changed his words to say this.
“The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has also begun an investigation. From me, I plan to work faithfully on the investigation, and all employees, including myself, have submitted consent for land ownership information collection, except for those in unavoidable circumstances, such as a business trip.” “We will do our best to restore the public’s trust through high-level investigations, punishments, and establish countermeasures to prevent recurrence, and to implement the housing supply plan promised to the people.”
Another controversy is the photo data the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport sent to reporters. On this day, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport released a second entry data and a photo showing Minister Byeon signing a personal information agreement. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport received personal information agreements from employees prior to the full investigation on the day. It is interpreted as a strategy to convey the message of showing the willingness of intense investigation and punishment.
Some criticize it as a “showing show.” Earlier on the 3rd, Minister Byeon summoned the heads of public institutions under the Ministry of Land, and asked them to write a pledge of integrity, and then released a commemorative photo of the group, which led to controversy. “Institutional leaders should be alert and establish an integrity organizational culture” to the agency heads under Eun-eun.
However, it was pointed out that the time when LH employees, who were suspicious of speculation, bought land mostly overlapped with the term of LH President Byun (April 2019 to December 2020), and it was a “fluid escape” speech method.
A representative of a public relations agency said, “If you communicate in a way that goes back and forth like Minister Byeon, it can have side effects. Photos are premature in the atmosphere of public sympathy as they are now,” he said. “Now, it is more thorough investigation and transparent than 100 words. The presentation of the results is the most urgent and important.”
An official from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs also said, “There are a lot of dissatisfied voices about why I have to write a personal information consent form internally by employees in departments that are not related to housing. I don’t know why the Minister released the signature photo. “I said.