Buyers of land around Sinsan-ri in Seongsan-eup, the location for Jeju’s new airport, are claiming they were scammed in a case of real estate fraud. An unnamed agricultural company sold divided plots of land to multiple buyers, who now claim that contract terms have not been followed. The company in question has denied any wrongdoing. Joseph Kim reports.
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Sinsan-ri, Seongsan-eup

This is (신산리) Sinsan-ri, (성산읍) Seongsan-eup. It’s where Jeju’s second airport will be built.

A 15,000-square-meter plot of land here... right next to the coastal road… is alleged to have been part of a real estate fraud case.

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Real estate fraud suspected in farmland sale

The farmland was sold by an agricultural company… to multiple buyers who were each promised a portion of the land… but they say the company breached the terms of their agreement.

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Buyers say company breached contract terms

Choi Sun-ok (최선옥) was one of the buyers last May. She bought the land to run a small accommodation facility, but says unlike the terms of agreement, she had to wait six months before the land was transferred under her name, and there has been an indefinite delay in the installation of water and sewage facilities as well as road construction work.

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‘Delays in ownership transfer, building infrastructure’

The company is also alleged to have infringed on property rights. After the area was announced to be the location for Jeju’s second airport and land prices began to rise, the company is said to have refused to transfer ownership on some of the land it sold.

SYNC
Choi Sun-ok / Land buyer
(Because of the airport) it’s going to be hard enough to live here due to the noise pollution, but they took away 50 pyeong and then when they heard land prices here would rise 20 times the amount it was before, they suddenly decided not to sell another 200 pyeong. I’ve already paid my interim payments...
<씽크:최선옥/농지 매수인>
"(공항 때문에) 시끄러운 곳에서 살려면 더 힘든데 그런 사람들 앞에서
50평도 빼앗기고 땅 값이 20배 오를 것이다해서 2백 평도 안 팔려고
했어요. 중도금까지 다 치렀는데..."

Other buyers claim the company sold land that wasn’t even their own.

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Buyers claim company sold land owned by third party

They say the agricultural company sold land it had bought but hadn’t registered… which therefore means it wasn’t formally theirs.

Another issue at stake is collateral damage. Buyers say they suddenly became responsible for a debt they weren’t informed of.

INTERVIEW
Nam Dal-li / Land buyer
I trusted the company. But they sold me land that wasn’t even theirs. It took a long time for them to divide up the land. After I had paid the full sum of money, they took 86 square meters of what was originally agreed and then I found out the land was collateral security for 1.2 billion won.
<인터뷰:남달리/농지 매수인 >
"그렇게 믿어서 계약했는데 자기 땅도 아니었어요. 분할도 굉장히 오랜
시간이 걸렸어요. 잔금을 치른 이후에도..86㎡를 뺏기고 등기했는데
알고보니 근저당이 12억이 설정돼 있는 거예요. 이 땅 전체를 담보로.."

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More than 10 people claim damages

The land buyers held a press conference and asked for measures to be taken against the company. They say more than 10 people had been scammed.

[camera]
Ko Moon-su

The company has denied the allegations, saying the transfer of ownership took a long time because the buyers delayed their payments, and that administrative work was currently underway on the road construction.

SYNC
Agricultural company representative
Everything was explained from the start. We told them that after the road construction permit was issued and the road was paved, then we would divide the land up and distribute it. And that is currently underway. There’s nothing wrong with that.
<씽크:농업법인 관계자>
"처음부터 얘기가 됐던 사항입니다. 나중에 도로허가를 받은 뒤 도로
포장이 된 다음에 지분을 나눠주기로 한 부분이고 진행 중입니다.
다른 쪽에서 문제가 될 부분은 없습니다."

[REPORTER]
Joseph Kim

The buyers have filed a lawsuit against the company on accounts of fraud.
Industry insiders say more disputes of a similar kind may arise in the future, now that the district has been decided as the site for Jeju’s second airport.

Joseph Kim KCTV