Amendment to the’Special Act on Public Housing’ passed by the National Construction Commission
Separately from punishment, confiscation and collection regulations have been newly established.
It is decided not to apply retroactively to acts before the amendment of the law.
Material photo” alt=”A field in the area of Gwarim-dong, Siheung-si, which is the planned site for the 3rd new city. <한겨레> Material photo” />
A field in the area of Gwarim-dong, Siheung-si, the planned site for the 3rd new city. Material photo
Even if public officials such as the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) employees are punished for speculation of land in the third new city, they cannot confiscate or collect their wealth or profits from property. This is because the National Assembly decided not to apply retroactively to confiscation and collection, although the National Assembly made a bill to strengthen punishment for public officials. According to the words of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the National Assembly’s National Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on the 23rd, a revised bill of the’Special Act on Public Housing,’ which reinforced punishment for public officials for dumping land, was voted at the National Territorial Commission’s bill review subcommittee on the 18th. The amendment contains the content that allows public officials who commit land speculation to be sentenced to life imprisonment or fines up to three to five times their profits, and to confiscate or collect acquired property. At the time, a number of opinions were expressed that the so-called’retrospective application’ should be applied to the owners of this case in relation to the provisions for confiscation and collection of property apart from punishment for speculators using development information. However, as a result of a review of the law by an expert member of the National Land Commission, it was suggested that retrospective application was unconstitutional. Accordingly, even if a court convicted and punished public officials such as LH employees who speculated on land, it became impossible to confiscate the land owned by the third new city. However, for them, it is not expected that the detached housing lot or the special apartment supply and sale right given to the negotiated transferor, which is handed over to the project implementer at the appraised price of the land, will not be provided. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to come up with a plan to improve compensation for public housing districts to curb speculation in the near future, because new regulations will be applied in places where compensation has not yet started, such as Gwangmyeong and Siheung districts. By Choi Jong-hoon, staff reporter