Report Says About Half of Government Officials Own Land as Speculation Scandal Grows
Not a good look even if there isn’t corruption going on, but in the case of the LH scandal we know there was corruption likely going on:
About half of top officials at the central government and state-run institutions own land as part of their wealth, a government report showed Thursday, amid mounting public outrage over a land speculation scandal involving public officials. (…….)
The report came in light of a snowballing controversy surrounding alleged speculative land purchases by employees at the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), the state housing supply arm, based on insider knowledge.
At least 20 LH employees are suspected of having purchased huge swathes of undeveloped land around Seoul over a few years with undisclosed information on plans to construct major residential towns there. The scandal has rocked the nation as it emerged at a time when public anger over the nation’s soaring housing and rent prices is running high.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
But isn’t how all feudal societies were organized? The King assigns lands and titles to favored nobles, who then own all the serfs who live in those lands…
There are no clear conflict of interests laws and no mechanisms to monitor and punish those who use their position to buy land that will be developed.
Combined with the fact that LH is the sole authority that decides which part of a certain area will be developed in addition to the tendency of Korean civil servants to always look for ways to supplement their meager income, its not surprising.
On the other hand, getting rid of LH may not be the answer because the private sector, with the exception of a few big sized construction companies, and local governments, lack the ability to develop areas that need development.