As the government joint investigation team initiated a speculative investigation on the entire 3rd new city, tensions between the relevant ministries, agencies and local governments are increasing.
The subject and scope of the investigation is the largest ever.
The government is expected to announce the results of the first round of investigations of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and LH employees on Thursday or Friday.
The government joint investigation team said that it would look into the details of land transactions of employees, spouses, and direct relatives with a history of working in the agencies and departments under investigation from five years before the announcement of the new city location to the present.
First of all, the employee, spouse, and immediate existence refer to the employee's family.
This includes you, your spouse, children, and, in the case of married children, your great-grandchildren.
Immediate continuation refers to the employee's parents, grandparents, and maternal grandparents.
Therefore, if you have an average of 3 family members (self, spouse, and children) and 2 people in direct lineage, then at least 5 people should be considered as targets when surveying 1 employee.
The government selected 14,000 people, including 4,000 public officials at the headquarters of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and about 10,000 employees at LH as the target of the first survey.
Then, if the average number of employees' family members and direct lineage is 4, the number of survey targets is 56,000, and if the average is 5, it increases to about 70,000.
Here, 6 new cities in the 3rd phase (Gwangmyeong·Siheung, Namyangju Wangsuk, Hanam Gyosan, Incheon Gyeyang, Goyang Changneung, Bucheon Daejang), Gwacheon district with a housing area of over 1 million m2, and Jangsang district of Ansan are located, including Gyeonggi and Incheon metropolitan area. Public officials in the department in charge of the new city of the basic municipality and the executives and employees of city corporations in the eight metropolitan and basic municipalities are also subject to the survey.
On the 5th, President Moon Jae-in instructed all employees and their families, including the Blue House chief, secretary, and administrator, to investigate land transactions in the new city.
The city of Ansan decided to investigate whether real estate transactions were conducted in the proposed new city for 2,200 public officials and 360 executives and employees of Ansan City Corporation.
In this case, the total number of people surveyed, including spouses and immediate survivors, is likely to exceed a maximum of 100,000.
The government is in a position that, if necessary, the subject of investigation can be expanded to any number of siblings, fourth-degree relatives, and acquaintances of public officials.
However, since the thorough investigation requires each party to obtain consent to collect and use personal information, the actual investigation is flexible.
As soon as the consent to use of personal information is collected, the government joint investigation team screens out whether there are'insiders' who have invested in the land of the 3rd new city through the real estate transaction management system of the Korea Real Estate Agency.
First of all, the survey team plans to announce the results of the first survey to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and LH employees in the middle of this week.
Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun said at a briefing on the 4th, "After the first investigation until next week, we will take a deep breath and investigate properly so as not to be confused."
We don't know how the first round of investigations will end, but no matter how the results come out, the controversy doesn't seem to be easy to subside.
If there are more suspicions of speculation than expected, the impact of the public can be great as the corruption structure of public officials is deeply rooted, and if there is less or no more than expected, the controversy over insolvent investigations can be engulfed.
The additional disclosure of the solidarity of participation and private sector is also a big variable.
It is said that dozens of reports of similar speculation have been poured out since LH employees announced allegations of speculation in the new cities of Gwangmyeong and Siheung on the 2nd.
"There are reports about local government officials and politicians," said Seo Seong-min, attorney of the Minbyun People's Economic Committee. "It seems that there have been dozens of reports nationwide and comprehensively regardless of regions such as Gwangju and Busan."
In the new cities of Gwangmyeong and Siheung, LH employees are also investigating additional speculation.
The Participation Solidarity and Minbyun said that they would collect and accumulate additional reports and observe the results of the government's total investigation.
If the government's investigation results do not include allegations of speculation that were additionally captured by the Civil Byeon and the Participating Solidarity, it is expected that additional disclosures will be made.
Participation Solidarity and Minbyun also expressed dissatisfaction with the looseness of the government investigation.
In a commentary yesterday (7th), these organizations said, "In order to increase public confidence in the results of the government's total investigation, compulsory investigations by investigative agencies or audits by the auditor should be conducted in parallel with the investigation by the government's joint investigation team."
The government said that it would conduct a full investigation of all the target areas of the 3rd new city, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and LH Corporation employees and immediate family members through a joint investigation team, and proceed with measures such as'investigation request, disciplinary action, etc. if speculation is confirmed'. He pointed out, "I have a lot of doubts about whether the government self-investigating whether the use of confidential information or whether it corresponds to speculation is being carried out by a narrow-down and neglected investigation of my family members."