LH SCANDAL TASK FORCE

[Anchor Lead]

A task force comprising police and officials from the National Tax Service is to be set up to investigate the massive land speculation scandal of the Land and Housing Corporation, an issue that prompted Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun's public apology. Police are exuding confidence in finding all perpetrators by ferreting out everyone involved in the scandal.

[Pkg]

Authorities have decided to set up a pan-governmental task force to investigate the land speculation scandal. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun has directed the relevant government agencies to establish a special task force comprising not only of the National Investigation Headquarters but also the National Tax Service and the Financial Services Commission as well. Chung has instructed government officials to look into all illicit real estate transactions in land development areas including transactions performed under borrowed names and unregistered pre-sale deals. In a message posted on social media, the prime minister vowed to investigate the allegations thoroughly and to sternly punish those involved, including public servants. The special task force will likely begin its duties after the governmental task force announces the results of its probe this week. Police appear determined to do their best to investigate land speculation, which will put to test their investigative capabilities following the expansion of their investigation rights. The police have also rebutted the claim to have prosecutors investigate the matter. Nam Ku-jun, who heads the National Office of Investigation (NOI) under the National Police Agency, says he disagrees that the scandal should be investigated by prosecutors, as police have bolstered their investigative powers by cracking down on real estate speculation. He stressed that real estate speculations in previous urban development projects were mostly detected by the police. Meanwhile, the Ansan Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutor's Office has set up a special team to investigate land speculation in Gwangmyeong and Siheung. However, rather than investigating the scandal per se, the team will mostly cooperate with the police or carry out a supplementary investigation after the case is transferred to the Public Prosecutors' Office.