POLICE RAIDS SEONGNAM CITY HALL

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The police on Thursday raided Seongnam City Hall in their investigation into allegations that preferential treatment was given to an apartment construction project in the Baekhyeondong area. The probe is now earnestly looking into alleged involvement of a close aide of the city’s then-Mayor Lee Jae-myung. This is only the latest out of a number of cases involving Lee for which a compulsory police investigation is underway.

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Investigators leave Seongnam City Hall carrying boxes filled with seized materials. The seized documents are related to permits and change in land use terms surrounding a development project in Seongnam’s Baekhyeon area. Eight different departments at City Hall were raided Thursday. The Baekhyeon-dong project was an apartment construction at the former site of the Korea Food Research Institute. Residents moved into one thousand unit apartments through June last year. For sale purposes, the Food Research Institute applied for a change in land use terms in 2014 as the site then was categorized as a natural green space. However the request was rejected twice by Seongnam City officials. But that assessment completely changed in two months time. City authorities approved land usage for a residential area in more generous terms than what was initially sought by the institute. Real estate developer Asia Development Inc. then acquired the plot of land. Around that time, the company recruited Kim In-seob, Lee Jae-myung’s former election camp chief for the Seongnam city mayoral race. This is the part that spurred speculations that Kim may have peddled influence in the permit approval process. The Baekhyeon-dong apartments were also initially promoted as a private rental project but were later converted to regular pre-sale housing. The erection of a 50 meter retaining wall which did not comply with existing regulations also raised suspicions. The police also recently searched the homes of Kim and the head of the development firm. Whether the investigation is also eyeing the former mayor, Lee Jae-myung is the subject of keen interest. At present, police are looking into multiple cases involving Lee including allegations related to the Seongnam City football club, his wife’s credit card use as well as his son’s alleged gambling. And now the Baekhyeon-dong construction project is added to the list. With search and raid operations conducted in every single case, they are now all subject to forced investigations. Lee, who is now a lawmaker, has not issued any particular statement regarding the latest developments.