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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

People want President Moon's apology for LH scandal

President Moon Jae-in speaks during an event in South Chungcheong Province, March 12. YonhapLand minister resigns; two LH employees found dead By Do Je-hae More people are demanding President Moon Jae-in apologize for a real estate scandal that has engulfed the nation.Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum offered to resign March 12 over allegations of speculative land purchases by some employees at the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), an affiliated agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, while he was serving as the CEO of the state housing corporation from April 2019 until December 2020. But public sentiment is turning increasingly negative against President Moon Jae-in ahead of a crucial mayoral by-election for his ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on April 7. A recent survey showed that six out of 10 people want to see Moon apologize for the scandal, which is under investigation by a joint investigation team led by the Prime Minister's office. Cheong Wa Dae has also conducted an internal investigation into employees at the presidential office over their purcha

Mar 14, 2021By Do Je-hae
People want President Moon's apology for LH scandal
  • Moon's approval rating falls to five-week low

Land minister offers to resign over LH land speculation scandal

Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum / YonhapLand Minister Byeon Chang-heum has offered his resignation to President Moon Jae-in over the snowballing land speculation scandal involving officials at the state housing corporation, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.Moon thinks that the minister cannot help "taking responsibility" for the case, according to Chung Man-ho, senior presidential secretary for public communication.The message indicated that Moon would accept Byeon's resignation.However, Chung said, the president wants the minister to complete the work of introducing legislation for the implementation of newly introduced housing supply measures before he steps down, the secretary added.The previous day, the government announced the results of its nascent probe into the incident. It said 20 employees at Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) were found to have purchased land in the Gwangmyeong-Siheung area of Gyeonggi Province before it was designated as the site of a major residential town development project. They are suspected of having used unannounced insider information.Byeon led the company

Mar 12, 2021
Land minister offers to resign over LH land speculation scandal
  • LH scandal reignites move for bill to prevent conflicts of interest
  • Senior LH official found dead in apparent suicide amid land speculation scandal
  • Second LH official found dead amid land speculation scandal

LH scandal reignites move for bill to prevent conflicts of interest

Police investigators carry boxes containing confiscated items during their search of a regional office of the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, March 9. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-jiThe alleged speculative land purchases by employees at the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) have reignited talks on the need for a law preventing public officials from being tasked with projects where there could be a conflict of interest. While legislative moves for such a regulation have not progressed in nearly a decade, the chances for the passage of a bill about such a ban seem high this time, as public anger has reached a peak regarding one of the most sensitive issues in the country ― real estate.Calls for the law have come after it was alleged last week that several LH employees purchased land in Gyeonggi provincial areas before a major urban development project was announced. The leadership of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (D

Mar 12, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
LH scandal reignites move for bill to prevent conflicts of interest
  • Land minister offers to resign over LH land speculation scandal
  • Second LH official found dead amid land speculation scandal

Land minister says he will take responsibility for LH employees' land speculation

Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum apologizes over the snowballing land speculation scandal, at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. YonhapLand Minister Byeon Chang-heum said Friday he will come up with measures to prevent employees at public developers from making speculative land purchases and could step down if his role falls behind public expectations.Byeon made the remark after a joint investigation team found that Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) employees allegedly bought land for speculation in two cities, south of Seoul, before it announced a major public housing development project.The minister has faced criticism as he served as the chief of LH before taking his current position in late December. Among 20 LH employees subject to police investigation, 11 bought land in public housing development sites during Byeon's term."I will create measures to resolve public concerns and take responsibility to prevent reoccurrence of (land speculation)," Byeon said in a parliamentary meeting. "If my role is evaluated as not enough, I will not stick to my position and follow (the preside

Mar 12, 2021
Land minister says he will take responsibility for LH employees' land speculation

Death of former transgender soldier reveals poor conditions for LGBTQ rights

A memorial altar for Byun Hee-soo, a 23-year-old transgender former soldier who was found dead at her home, March 3, is set up the following day by the progressive minor Justice Party at the National Assembly in Seoul. Byun had been discharged from the Army last year after her gender reassignment surgery. Courtesy of Justice PartyBy Jung Da-minThe death of Byun Hee-soo, a 23-year-old transgender former soldier forced to discharge from the Army last year following her sex reassignment surgery, has reignited debates on the rights of sexual minorities here. Byun was found dead in her home in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, March 3, after her mental health counselor called emergency services to report that she had not been in contact since Feb. 28.Byun had been forcibly discharged from her military duty as a noncommissioned Army officer in late January last year, three months after undergoing male-to-female gender-reassignment surgery. The Army judged that Byun's loss of male genitals belongs to the Level 3 mental and physical disability under military law, the third-highest level

Mar 12, 2021
Death of former transgender soldier reveals poor conditions for LGBTQ rights

LH scandal expanding to political circles

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon, center, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. YonhapBy Jung Da-min A speculative land purchase scandal involving employees of a state-run housing corporation is expanding to political circles, with some ruling party lawmakers embroiled in similar land speculation allegations. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is paying keen attention to whether the scandal, which has already aroused public anger, will stir negative public sentiment toward the party and affect the mayoral by-elections slated for April 7.The allegations follow the land speculation scandal involving employees at Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), in which some employees bought farmland in Siheung and Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi Province prior to the government's announcement of new development projects there. Rep. Yangyi Won-young of the DPK came under suspicion first, as her mother purchased undeveloped land in Gwangmyeong near an area announced recently to be part of the development project.Following a media

Mar 11, 2021
LH scandal expanding to political circles

Land minister faces growing calls to resign

Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum participates in a session at the National Assembly, Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapBy Do Je-hae Byeon Chang-heum, minster of land, infrastructure and transport, is facing growing calls to resign following a speculative land buying scandal involving employees of a state corporation he headed before joining the Cabinet in December 2020.The former CEO of the Korea Land & Housing Corp. (LH) has emerged at the center of public anger over allegations that LH employees had bought farmlands in Siheung and Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi Province before the announcement of new mega town projects there. Byeon served as CEO of the state-run corporation from April 2019 until December 2020. Even some members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have started to demand Byeon's resignation to take responsibility for the scandal, which is feared to aggravate public sentiment toward the Moon Jae-in administration's housing policy with the by-elections in Seoul and Busan only weeks away. Park Soo-hyun, a high-level official at the DPK and a former spokesman for President Moon

Mar 10, 2021By Do Je-hae
Land minister faces growing calls to resign

'Let's vote for April 7 by-elections'

A banner and installations are set up by the Seoul branch of the National Election Commission in front of the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Wednesday, calling on residents to participate in the April 7 by-election to select the mayor of Seoul. Other local by-elections are being held on the day including one for the mayor of Busan. Yonhap

Mar 10, 2021

Moon says LH officials' land speculation 'unpardonable' act

President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's floor leaders at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in said Wednesday it is an unpardonable act for public officials to use unannounced information on a new state housing project for speculative land purchases.It is an "unpardonable act that disrupts fairness and trust in our society," Moon said during a meeting with the ruling Democratic Party's (DP) floor leaders at Cheong Wa Dae.The people are enraged by the massive land speculation scandal involving employees at Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), the president pointed out.It was revealed last week that more than a dozen staffers at the state housing agency had bought about 10 billion won (US$8.88 million) worth of farmland in Gwangmyeong and Siheung in Gyeonggi Province well before the land ministry's announcement last month on a project to build a new city with about 70,000 apartment units there.He urged efforts for a "fundamental" resolution to the apparent structural problem and requested that the National Assembl

Mar 10, 2021
Moon says LH officials' land speculation 'unpardonable' act

Skepticism rising over investigation into LH speculation scandal

Posts condemning alleged illegal speculative land purchases by workers at the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) are attached to the front gate of LH's Seoul office, Tuesday. YonhapBy Do Je-haeThe government has launched a massive investigation into ministries and public organizations to look into possible illegal speculative land purchases by employees or family members using confidential information. The probe comes after it was alleged that a dozen officials at the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) used classified information to purchase about 10 billion won worth of farmland in Siheung and Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, before the government announced the development of major new town projects in these cities.But skepticism is rising about the effectiveness and reliability of such a government-led investigation. At the direction of President Moon Jae-in, the Prime Minister's Office began the investigation by setting up an interagency team. The initial stage of the probe will focus on 23,000 officials, including 9,900 employees at LH and 4,500 at the Ministry of La

Mar 9, 2021By Do Je-hae
Skepticism rising over investigation into LH speculation scandal
  • Police raid Land and Housing Corp headquarters over land speculation scandal
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