Amid reports of allegations of real estate speculation against former prosecutor general Yoon Seok-yeol’s mother-in-law Choi Mo, Choi’s attorney, Sohn Kyung-sik, issued a statement on the 5th and rebelled against “reporting for political purposes to dilute the government’s real estate situation ahead of local elections.” did.
Previously, one media reported that on this day, Choi bought the forestry and farmland of Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do respectively under the name of E corporation, which he was representative of, in 2006, and then signed an apartment construction contract in 2014 after receiving approval for the designation of an urban development zone from Yangpyeong-gun in 2012. It was reported that the sales revenue of about 10 billion won was achieved. In the process, he obtained farmland without engaging in agriculture, violating the Farmland Act, and after the National Rental Housing Project, which was promoted by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), was canceled, additional land was purchased in anticipation of approval for the designation of an urban development zone by Yangpyeong-gun. It was the gist of the suspicion that he was speculating on real estate.
Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, along with his father Yoon Ki-jung, an emeritus professor at Yonsei University, is boarding a vehicle after voting at the pre-voting office for the 2021 re-election in Namgajwa 1-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 2nd. Reporter Lim Hyun-dong
Regarding this, Mr. Sohn said, “Mr. Choi, like ordinary real estate developers, conducted the apartment implementation project legally in accordance with relevant laws and paid all taxes normally.” “The apartment implementation project in Yangpyeong-gun is a pre-sale price for ordinary people 1 It is a project to supply 24 pyeong and 30 pyeong apartments in the lower half of KRW 200 million to KRW 200 million, so it is not speculation aimed at gains in real estate market prices,” he refuted. He added, “According to the logic of the article, all apartment operators are being driven into real estate speculators.”
Attorney Sohn explained that Choi’s alleged violation of the Farmland Law was “unlawful at all as a matter of farming to function as farmland and being supervised by the competent authorities until he obtained a real estate development license.” At that time, the photographs of farmland were released, saying, “We cultivated through a third party.” Regarding the purchase of additional land before approval for the designation of urban development zones, “It is common to purchase additional land for efficient design of apartment complexes in the process of permitting apartment implementation. Insisted.
Attorney Son suspected that the farmland acquired by Choi was sold to a corporation and presented to the children who owned the shares of the company at the time. “Because it is impossible to acquire farmland under the name of the corporation, it was acquired under the personal name of the representative director of the corporation, and then the corporation passed the relevant license. “It is a normal procedure to pass it over again to” he refuted. He also said about Kim Gun-hee, the daughter of Choi’s daughter and the spouse of former president Yoon, “I have never been involved in the business, and in June 2014 I gave up the stake in E company without condition.”
Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol attends the ceremony for the conferment of the appointment of the Prosecutor General in the main building of the Blue House on July 25, 2019. Newsis
This is not the first time that a suspicion related to the real estate business of Choi has been raised after suspicion of LH real estate speculation was raised due to the disclosure of a civic group on the 2nd of last month. On the 24th of last month, another press said, “Mr. Choi purchased the land in Asan New City, Chungnam, which is scheduled for land development in 2001, for about 3 billion won through an auction, and received about 13.2 billion won in land compensation within 3 years, and made a market profit of about 10.2 billion won. I reaped it.”
At the time, lawyer Sohn explained that “the land was legitimately acquired in five bids after being inspected four times in a row in the open auction procedure.” “We voluntarily paid 6 billion won in tax on the gains in compensation.”
Attorney Sohn also commented on raising the connection with former President Yoon in a series of reports, “All of them were before Yoon’s marriage (March 2012), and Mr. Yoon did not know the specific progress of the process, and he was involved in the process. “It is very inappropriate to report unfairly linked with former President Yun during a politically sensitive period,” he said.
Reporter Ha Jun-ho [email protected]
