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| ▲ On the morning of the morning of the 11th, at the “Suspicious Speculation of Public Officials including LH Employees” held at the Bar Education and Culture Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, held at the “Suspicion of Speculation of Public Officials, including LH Employees”, at an emergency discussion on measures to improve the system and the legal evaluation, Seong-min Seo, attorney of the Minbyun Economic Committee, presents a presentation. | |
| Ⓒ Yonhap News |
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“It’s not a problem that has occurred in a year or two. The politicians are not pointing at it now, but I ask that the laws and institutions they have created are self-confident and make an effort to solve the problems that have been revealed.”
Accumulated redemption. Amid the growing controversy over speculation by acquiring prior information from public officials such as LH (LH) executives and staff members of Korea Housing and Urban Corporation, attorney Kang-hoon Lee (executive member of the Participation Solidarity), who participated in the suspicion, emphasized that system improvement is as important as Balbonsaekwon. Rather than using it to interpret the controversy politically, it was an order to raise enthusiasm for legislation, such as strengthening punishment for speculation by public officials and preventing recurrence.
Attorneys’ Association for Democratic Society (Minbyun) held a discussion meeting to analyze the progress and legal evaluation after reporting speculation at the Bar Education and Culture Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 11th, and answered questions of public opinion that have been concentrated after the controversy. The focus was on improving the system.
#Question 1. Where is speculative information leaking?
Above all, the lawyer said that the problem is that the ethics of public officials who access the information from the process of designating a public housing district cannot be guaranteed. He said, “A significant number of public officials are involved in the process of prior consultation with related organizations such as the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the head of the public housing business and the competent local government, local corporations, etc., and related information is known.” The possibility exists from the proposal for designation of the district,” he pointed out.
The problem is that the provisions of the law to be punished for leaking the information are limited to’information learned during business processing’. Lee said, “If you leave for the reason that’I did not work in a new city,’ the likelihood of punishment is significantly lowered.’ He emphasized that the scope should be expanded to such as’information that has not been disclosed so that you can know it.’
He also pinpointed the reality of punishing’leakers’ while not being punished by’hearing and taking advantage’. Attorney Lee said, “Because these crimes are for the self or a third party’s economic interests, a reinforced approach is needed in terms of retrieving the retrieval of crimes,” said Lee. There is a need to come up with,” he insisted.
#Question 2. Why is the level of punishment for public officials so low?
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| ▲ A red light is on at the traffic lights near the LH Incheon Regional Headquarters in Namdong-gu, Incheon, where the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) employees are suspicious of speculation in the new city. LH Incheon Regional Headquarters is in charge of not only the Gwangmyeong and Siheung new towns in Gyeonggi-do, but also the Incheon Gyeyang and Bucheon Daejang new towns. | |
| Ⓒ Yonhap News |
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The biggest problem lies in the current system in which it is not possible to properly punish speculation by public officials or to redeem unfair gains. The lawyer pointed out that “the public has strong public opinion, but there aren’t many laws that can actually punish the speculative behavior of public officials.” This is due to the’reflection system’ system, such as the abolition of the excess land gain tax in 1998 and the conversion of farmland for other purposes.
What is urgent is the upward legal sentence. The attorney said, “Private persons who trade stocks for the use of undisclosed information are subject to imprisonment for one year or more, or fines equivalent to three to five times the amount of profits and losses. With imprisonment of not more than 5 years or fine of not more than 50 million won, the sentence is lower and the balance is not right,” he explained.
Fundamentally, like Vienna, the capital of Austria, he suggested that it is necessary to consider using the public housing district as a housing site for rental housing instead of for sale. Lee said, “Because (rental land) is not sold in sales, there is no speculative profit,” he said. “It will require a lot of discussion because the strategy for supplying housing in Korea has to be changed from the beginning.”
#Question 3. Is it possible to eradicate LH land speculation?
It also suggested the construction of a system in which it is impossible to share secret information itself. “It is realistically difficult to find out which hole it leaked from now,” Lee said. “As in the case of France, the officially announced land price related to the land compensation acquired is not the publicly announced site at the nearest point before the business recognition notification date, as in the case of France, but about three years before that. It is necessary to consider a plan to compensate by reflecting the rate of increase in land prices from the point of time to the point of price.”
The National Assembly ordered the spur of the conflict-of-interest prevention bill, which had been debated lately. Lee said, “In the Public Officials Ethics Act, there is no asset registration or stock blank trust, but there is no real estate-related part, and we discussed the comprehensive conflict of interest legislation, but it did not exceed the threshold of the National Assembly every time.” “The power of the people is quite negative and the ruling party seems to be very active. I didn’t, but it should be proactively dealt with, rather than just making a legislative proposal and leaving it alone.”
He stressed that a thorough investigation by each local government was necessary for the’farmland speculation’ activity revealed by the LH incident. He also issued an order that “the farmland law itself must be touched.” Lee said, “By submitting a false farming plan to deceive the local government, neglecting speculation profits qualified to acquire farmland is like neglecting theft.” In this case, it is necessary to limit the supply of housing land and special housing, which are negotiated transfers,” he said.
#Question 4. Are LH employees also public officials?
Seong-min Seo, an attorney of Minbyun’s People’s Economic Committee, cited’does LH employees belong to public officials? Among the categories of public officials eligible for the Anti-Corruption Act,’public corporations’ are specified as one of the organizations related to public service. It falls under Article 3-2 of the Public Officials Ethics Act. In the public apology released by LH, it is stated that “we take full responsibility for the failure of employees to fulfill their duties as public officials.”
“I don’t know anything other than the informant, contact information”… Blocking political interpretation
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| ▲ “Korea Housing and Land Corporation (LH) employees announced allegations of pre-speculation in Gwangmyeong and Siheung new city and press conference for public interest audit” was held on the morning of the 2nd at the Zelkova Hall of the Participation Solidarity in Jongno-gu, Seoul, hosted by the Minbyun People’s Economic Committee and the Participation Solidarity. Participants responded to the suspicion that LH employees purchased about 7,000 pyeong of land in the Gwangmyeong and Siheung new town districts announced on the 24th from 2018 to 2020, violating the obligation to prevent conflicts of interest under the Public Officials Ethics Act and business secrets under the Anti-Corruption Act. It claimed that the possibility of violation of the ban on use was high. | |
| Ⓒ Kwon Woo-seong |
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Meanwhile, at the conference on this day, he also explained how the LH incident was exposed. Attorney Seo Seong-min said that on the 24th of last month, on the day the government selected the third new city, he received a phone call from the informant at 4 pm. Attorney Seo said, “There are reports and speculation that the informant is an LH employee and has made whistleblowers, but there is nothing other than the contact information of the informant to Minbyeon and the participation solidarity.”
I drew a direct line about the movement of political competition. Attorney Seo dismissed a question about some of the political circles and some media reports that Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myeong had encouraged the allegations to be raised, saying, “It was not such a situation because it was proceeding while requesting a public interest audit after receiving a report.”
“The mission of the Moon Jae-in administration in the last days is to cut off speculation from corruption. We don’t know what will happen in the process, but it is a problem that we have to bear. We should not avoid the responsibility for fear, nor should we resent it for harshness.”
Min-byeon, a debater, attorney of the Minbyeon Economic Committee, mentioned that public officials were repeatedly arrested every time the announcement of a new city in the past, emphasizing that the’last task of the Moon Jae-in administration’ is here. “The search for participants was hot, but the institutional support to prevent this was not adequate.”
Attorney Park continued, “We must clarify the reality of the things that have been packaged as investments to somebody so far. Only a few have enjoyed the development profits, and a large number of good citizens have supported the development profits they have rotated many times. He strongly criticized him, saying, “I can also wear it,” he strongly criticized, saying that (public officials) have been tortured with hope.