Gyeonggi Province to Conduct Intensive Investigation of 44,050 Land Speculation Suspects

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 29th that it will conduct an intensive investigation of 44,050 suspected land speculators from January to October last year through the end of next month, including cases where minors purchased land or transactions involving two or more purchases by the same party.

The targets include 34,765 individuals who purchased land twice or more, 6,627 individuals who purchased 6,000 square meters or more of land, 2,600 individuals who gifted land twice or more, and 58 minors who purchased land, among others.

According to the provincial government's preliminary investigation, a 4-year-old child purchased 5,709 square meters of forest land in the Icheon area, and an 18-year-old living in Seoul purchased 39,542 square meters of forest land in the Yangpyeong area, indicating suspected speculation.

The province plans to impose sentences of up to two years imprisonment or fines of up to 30 percent of land value on those who commit land transaction fraud, and will impose enforcement fines of up to 10 percent of land value on violators of land use obligations such as leaving land unused, illegal leasing, or unauthorized change of use.

A provincial official stated, "We plan to notify each city and district of the list of unusual land transaction parties and conduct intensive investigations for violations of the land transaction permission system. If illegal activities are detected, we will refer the cases to judicial authorities and will continue to track down unearned profits from speculation to take appropriate measures."

Previously, the province investigated 21,435 unusual land transaction parties in 2005, identifying 322 violations, imposing administrative fines on 297 individuals and taking legal action against 25 individuals.