By Heekyong Yang
SEOUL (Reuters) – A second senior Korean Land and Housing Corp (LH) official has been found dead in Paju, north of the South Korean capital, Seoul, in an apparent suicide amid a growing scandal inside real estate speculation, an officer from the Paju police station said.
The Yonhap news agency reported the death earlier on Saturday, saying the LH official was apparently not the subject of an investigation into the allegations of inside speculation by dozens of employees of the state housing corporation.
This is the second death of an LH official since the South Korean government declared war on crime this week.
The other official was found dead on Friday, also due to an apparent suicide. He left a letter saying he was sorry he had done ‘undesirable things’ when he was head of LH’s North Jeolla province office, Yonhap reported.
According to an initial investigation into the scandal, at least 20 LH employees are suspected of trying to use classified knowledge to buy undeveloped land before new development projects begin in the areas, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Thursday. said.
The main opposition People’s Party criticized the sluggish progress of the current investigation, and called for an investigation to be led by prosecutors to ensure a speedy and thorough process.
The scandal has sparked outrage in South Korea as property prices in and around Seoul skyrocketed, making it difficult to find affordable housing.
South Korea’s Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Byeon Chang-heum, has offered to resign over the scandal. Although not personally involved, Byeon was head of LH from April 2019 to December 2020.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Edited by Himani Sarkar)