[Editorial] The Prosecution Should Investigate the Suspicion

A new suspicion is swelling out everyday surrounding the development of the Baekgung Jeongja district in Bundang, Seongnam city, Kyunggi Province. The whole story is evasive as to how a small construction company was able to build the residential-commercial compound apartment as the land prices rose up due to the changed city plan right after the small comapny bought the land, which was given up by the big construction company, through the free contract. The main point of the Grand National Party (GNP) is that the Korea Land Corp., Seongnam city and the political circle were involved in this case through which a construction company made a huge profit.

As the case created stir to the extent that the summon of its member was mentioned, the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) held a meeting of the four party leaders, and the spokesperson announced that ``the focus of this case is not whether the political circle was involved, but the relation among Seongnam city, the Korea Land Corp., and the construction company.`` However, to conclude that the involvement of the political circle in this case is not the focus is a hasty prediction. Nothing has been revealed for certain yet. However, if the political power gave a benefit to the construction company by manipulating Seongnam city and the Korea Land Corp., this is the focus of the case.

The MDP spokesperson said, ``Our party`s position is that if anybody is involved in the corruption case, the person should be punished regardless of the rank.`` However, the GNP concretely presents the theory of involvement of the political power. If the government covers up the suspicion, it will become a burden to the government and the ruling party. If the Korea Land Corp. and Seongnam city are the problems in this case as the MDP argues, there is no reason for the prosecution to hesitate to investigate.

Suspicion on this case can be summarized as twofold. One is the process in which the Korea Land Corp. sold the land to the `H` company, and the other is the circumstance in which Seongnam city changed the use of land, which was bought by the `H` company. The suspicion behind the background in which a small company achieved the sales contract beating the Military Mutual Aid Association and the consortium of the big company should be cleared first. The Korea Land Corp. explained that it concluded a contract with the `H` because the Military Mutual Aid Association requested difficult conditions, such as substitute land. However, it is doubtful why it sold the land at a cheaper price through the free contract compared with the price of the surrounding land.

The next suspicious matter is why Seoungnam city changed the city plan which allowed the land to be used as a general commercial district in which the residential-commercial compound apartment can be built. Seongnam city explained that the change of the use of land was based on the election campaign promise, and people who bought the land did not make much profit because the average floor area ratio was only 314 percent. However, there are various talks about the change of the use of land, which took place right after the `H` bought the land, despite opposition from some of the residents. The prosecution`s investigation is unavoidable to find out the truth of the matter. The prosecution should launch the investigation that distinguishes right from wrong.