On the afternoon of the 3rd, juniper saplings are planted on land believed to have been purchased by LH employees in Gwarim-dong, Siheung, Gyeonggi-do. Reporter Lee Seung-yeop
The police initiated a full-scale investigation on the suspicion that the employees of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) made preliminary speculation using information released by the government for the third new city. While accusations that the employees of housing and public enterprises, who should take the lead in the government’s housing supply policy, are taking the lead in illegal dumping, attention is focused on whether the employees will be punished by the police through criminal investigations and the level of punishment.
According to the police on the 4th, the anti-corruption economic crime investigation unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency accused the representative of a civic organization that accused 14 LH employees and their spouses and families the day before for violating the prohibition of confidential business use under the Anti-Corruption Act and violation of the duty to prevent conflicts of interest under the Public Officials Ethics Act. I checked by identity. The police plan to speed up the investigation by conducting an investigation of reference personnel for the participation solidarity and the lawyers’ association for a democratic society (Minbyeon) who raised the suspicion for the first time in the near future.
Proof of work relevance is key
On the 3rd, the police launched an investigation in connection with the suspicion that the employees of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) had bought 10 billion won of land using undisclosed information before the announcement of the designation of new cities in Gwangmyeong and Siheung. The photo shows the headquarters of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in Seoul. Newsis
In the legal community, the key to the police investigation of LH employees is whether it is possible to prove whether or not the new city information is properly managed as’secret’, as well as the designation and information of new city candidates and their business relevance. In particular, there is no disagreement that punishment is possible if it is revealed that secret inside information was used during the land purchase process.
The current anti-corruption law stipulates that public officials should not use secrets learned during business processing to acquire profits in property or property or allow third parties to acquire them. It also states that violations can result in imprisonment for up to 7 years or a fine of up to 50 million won. LH is a public institution and employees are subject to criminal penalties because they are public officials. In addition, there is also a punishment clause that confiscates or collects acquired property or profits from property, so it is also possible to confiscate the purchased land itself.
Even if the new city information used by LH employees is not confidential, it may be punished for violation of the Special Public Housing Act if the facts learned during work, that is, work relevance, are proven. This is because the Special Act on Public Housing stipulates that a person who uses information learned during business processing for other purposes, provides or discloses information to others, is subject to imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a fine of not more than 50 million won.
However, not all of the alleged employees were identified as working in the new city-related departments, and most of them worked at the Gyeonggi-Seoul regional headquarters rather than the LH Incheon headquarters in charge of Gwangmyeong and Siheung. have. In fact, it is known that the relevant employees also strongly deny work relevance.
On the other hand, the Participation Solidarity said that their purchase of land was concentrated for one year between June 2019 and June 2020, just after Gwangmyeong and Siheung were eliminated in the announcement of the third new cities such as Goyang Changneung and Bucheon Daejang in May 2019. Considering that is large, it is highly likely that information has been obtained in advance. An official at the front line police department said, “There is a possibility that internal information has been overlooked.”
There are no penalties in the Public Officials Ethics Act… urgently needed to supplement legislation
Kim Nam-geun, a policy member of the Participation Solidarity, attends a press conference for public interest audit requests for allegations of pre-speculation in Gwangmyeong and Siheung new towns held at the Participation Solidarity in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 2nd. Newsis
You can also consider whether or not you violate the obligation to prevent conflicts of interest under the Public Officials Ethics Act. According to the Public Officials Ethics Act, public officials should not use public offices to pursue private interests, and should not unfairly use information acquired while in office, or make others use them unfairly. However, there are no penalties for real estate transactions under the Public Officials Ethics Act, so only internal disciplinary action is possible. “If this kind of behavior occurs in the capital market, an insider’s use of undisclosed information will result in a punishment of not only one year or more, but also a fine of three times or more and five times less than the speculative profit.” He pointed out that he is too generous about the real estate speculation of public officials.”
As it became known that thousands of juniper saplings were planted in a hurry after the designation of a new city for compensation, or after a year ago plowing a paddy field and planting willows on the spot, it was known that it was neglected. There is also a view that there is. This is because the situation can be seen as a situation in which employees only purchased farmland for speculation, but did not have the purpose of actually building farming.
Lee Seung-yeop reporter [email protected]
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