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| 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-ji
The 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 (DPK) pledged to pass a relevant bill within this month, and President Moon Jae-in once again emphasized, Wednesday, that such speculative land purchases using confidential information will be prevented in the future if the bill is passed this time.
A bill preventing conflicts of interest for public officials and lawmakers was first proposed in 2013, but was not included in the anti-graft law known as the "Kim Young-ran Act" that was passed in 2016, as lawmakers concluded the regulation would be "too widely applied."
Since then, similar bills were proposed during the 19th and 20th National Assemblies but scrapped automatically after lawmakers failed to discuss them before the set time limit for passage.
Both the ruling and opposition parties have vowed to enact the regulation in response to allegations of conflict of interest. In 2019, it was alleged that former DPK lawmaker Sohn Hye-won bought real estate in Mokpo under false names by using information she obtained while working for the Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee. And it was alleged last year that Rep. Park Duk-hyum of the main conservative opposition People Power Party illegally clinched orders worth up to 100 billion won ($86 million) from government agencies for construction firms operated under the names of his family members.
Following such incidents, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) submitted a bill on conflicts of interest to the Assembly last June.
According to the bill, if public officials, lawmakers or their family members' personal interests are linked to the work of the officials, they are required to report these links immediately to the head of their organization so they will be excluded from the work. Public officials are also prohibited from privately providing advice or information to people who are linked to their work, in return for money or other benefits.
In addition, officials or lawmakers are subject to imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won if they use confidential information obtained during work for their own personal benefit by having a third party use the information.
Besides the bill submitted by the ACRC, a dozen similar bills have been proposed by members of the DPK and the minor progressive Justice Party.
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| Lawmakers belonging to the National Assembly National Policy Committee hold a press conference at the Assembly in Seoul on March 9, to say they will speed up passage of a bill aimed at preventing conflicts of interest. Yonhap |
The bills, however, drew skepticism, as they apply to lawmakers, and lawmakers are unlikely to pass a bill that could enact new rules on how their activities are linked to their personal interests. In February, the Assembly's National Policy Committee started to review the bills, but proper discussion has not yet taken place.
DPK members who belong to the committee held a press conference, Tuesday, announcing that they would make efforts to pass the bills promptly.
In the meantime, President Moon ordered a thorough investigation into the speculative land purchase allegations, saying the revelations so far could be "the tip of the iceberg."
As the government's initial probe into 14,000 employees of LH and the land ministry found possible speculative land purchases by only 20 people, Moon called for a probe into land purchases possibly made by the employees' family members or under false names.
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