Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Byun Chang-heum (second left) and officials attended the National Land Transportation Committee held at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 9th and bowed their heads to apologize for the recent allegations of speculation by LH employees. Reporter Oh Jong-taek
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Byun Chang-heum said on the 9th that the employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) responded to allegations of speculation in the new cities of Gwangmyeong and Siheung. .
Controversy about remarks, “It doesn’t seem like an investment knows information”
The ruling and opposition parties “Expanding the subject of investigation, such as the Blue House”
Minister Byun “Immediately hung up and promoted prevention measures”
“There is still a lot to do” in the request to resign
Minister Byeon, who attended an emergency report on the plenary meeting of the National Assembly’s Land, Transport and Transportation Committee on that day, responded to the question of lawmakers asking, “Would you like to resign?” When asked if Lee Jong-bae had expressed his gratitude to the President and Prime Minister, Minister Byeon said, “I haven’t done so yet,” saying, “There is still much work to be done to restore public trust and to stabilize housing prices and housing based on this. ”
The plenary meeting on this day began in a harsh atmosphere, with the ruling and opposition lawmakers going to and from Goseong. Members of the People’s Power appeared with signs on their laptops saying, “Resignation of Byun Chang-heum, condoning real estate speculation,” and “Investigate the Democratic Party for anti-social criminal activity,” etc., and ruling party lawmakers showed displeasure.
Prior to reporting the current issue, Minister Byeon bowed his head once again and apologized, saying, “I am well aware of the people’s great disappointment and anger with this incident, and I am truly heartbroken and regrettable.” He said, “I am so sorry that the trust in the public sector has fallen,” he said. “We need to cut out the rotten parts and restore public trust. To this end, I will assume the position of minister and implement strong measures to prevent recurrence.”
At the current issue questionnaire, the ruling and opposition lawmakers criticized the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and LH’s behavior with one voice. Members of the lawmakers intensively criticized Byun’s remarks, saying, “I bought it because I knew it would not be possible to develop a new city, but I think it was suddenly designated as a new city.”
When Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun said on the 8th that “public officials who commit corruption will be disgraced”, Rep. Kim Hee-guk said, “The laws applicable to this issue are the Anti-Corruption Act, the Special Act on Public Housing, the Farmland Act, and the Korean Land and Housing Act. There are only four such as the construction law,” he said, and asked, “Can these laws be used to create disgrace to meet the public sentiment?”
When Minister Byeon said, “The anti-corruption law is the most likely,” Congressman Kim refuted that “the anti-corruption law will not be applied because it does not realize profits.” Minister Byeon said, “It depends on how broadly the business secret is interpreted, but it is possible according to the precedent that the information obtained indirectly through meetings of public officials is regarded as internal secret.”
“It is necessary to make a special law for land confiscation and apply it retrospectively. Do you agree?” We will increase the fine by 3 to 5 times the unfair gains so that it will be a real punishment.”
The opposition lawmakers made a voice over the necessity of expanding the subject of investigation. Regarding the necessity of investigating nominated speculation to be expanded to the Blue House and National Assembly members, Byun said, “The Financial Services Commission and the National Tax Service are also being put into the investigation team in order to confirm the nominated investment,” and “We will expand the targets in stages.”
Voices from the ruling party also publicly insisted on the resignation of Minister Byeon Chang-heum. Park Soo-hyun, the chairman of the Public Relations and Communications Committee of the Democratic Party, who was a spokesman for the Blue House, appeared on TV Chosun that day and said, “(Minister Byun) has to take this responsibility and resign sooner or later, if not today.” He said, “How much are the people suffering from the problem of real estate and housing?” He said, “Young people want to build a house because they are’spiritual (it draws out the soul)’, but now in relation to the LH incident, he says,’the soul is robbed.’ Until it comes out,” he said. At the same time, “Minister Byun was acting to anoint the angry public sentiment in the midst of this,” he criticized Byun’s remarks, saying, “It seems that he did not invest in knowing the development information in advance.”
Democratic Party Policy Committee Chairman Hong Ik-pyo in the morning also said in a radio interview, “If (Minister Byun) was involved in the future corruption related to (Minister Byun) or even noticed it, you should be held accountable.”
Reporter Kim Won [email protected]
