Police raid land ministry over mounting LH scandal
Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum / Yonhap
Police conducted raids on Wednesday into multiple places, including the land ministry, in a widening investigation into alleged land speculation by employees of a state housing developer.
Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency has sent investigators to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport located in the administrative capital of Sejong, some 120 kilometers south of Seoul.
The raids have also been conducted at six other locations, including the headquarters of the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), the state housing developer, in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, and a branch of Nonghyup Bank in Siheung suspected of providing loans to LH officials for land purchases.
Siheung and Gwangmyeong, both south of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, are at the center of a massive scandal sparked by the allegations of land speculation by LH employees.
The raid into the LH headquarters took place for the second time since March 9.
Twenty LH officials are currently under investigation on suspicion of using insider information to purchase farmland mainly in the two cities before the central government designated it as a major public housing development site last month.
The alleged land speculation by public sector employees has rocked the nation as it emerged at a time when public discontent over soaring home prices is running high.
President Moon Jae-in apologized Tuesday for troubling the nation over the case, which two civic groups brought to light two weeks ago. (Yonhap)