Jeju is conducting a land probe over alleged speculative purchase of estate.

The investigation was ignited as land transaction volume reportedly sharply increased just before the site for the island’s second airport was announced.

The Province stresses that it will take strict measures against civil servants involved in speculative land purchase.

However, transactions made in borrowed names such as family members and relatives are excluded from the probe scope as it’s beyond authorities’ reach. Former employees are also excluded, which provokes controversy over the effectiveness of the probe.
Todd Thacker reports.

Report

It was announced that a provincial investigation into suspicious land purchases in the Seongsan area by civil servants will be based on property transaction reports.

The names of land buyers and civil servants will be cross-checked, and if there is a correlation, the province will formally request a probe by the province’s Audit and Inspection Commission.

Also when conducting the probe, the Provincial Office will obtain the consent of the relevant parties before their personal information is collected and reviewed.

These rules are prompting some to question the effectiveness of any investigation into potential misconduct by public officials.

To date, a number of employees of the state-run housing developer, the Korea Land and Housing Corporation, or LH, have refused to release their personal information to investigators.

Without individuals’ consent to use their personal information, their personal history of land purchases cannot be accessed.


Former officials, family members and relatives of public servants are also excluded from the scope of the probe, even though speculative land purchases are often made under borrowed names.


The province has said that it doesn’t have the right to investigate former employees and relatives of employees.

Recording
Won Heeryong / Jeju Governor
My office is swiftly and without exception investigating suspicious land purchases in the area of the second airport site, the results of which will be made public by the end of March.
[녹취 원희룡 / 제주도지사 ]
"제주도도 예외없이 제2 공항예정지에 대한 공무원 부동산 투기 여부를 3월 말까지 신속하게 조사하여 투명하게 도민에게 공개하겠습니다.

By contrast, a national probe into LH employees focuses on property transactions under borrowed names by working with the National Tax Service and the Financial Services Commission.

Some say there are fatal limitations in the province’s investigation into land speculation at the second airport site.

Todd Thacker, KCTV