Seven-Year-Old Owns 10,000 Pyong

A great number of speculation cases have been uncovered in the national capital region and the Chungcheong region.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation reported on September 16 that they have found 52,544 speculation-suspected cases among 135,799 buyers of land in the national capital region and the Chungcheong region, and have informed the National Tax Service (NTS).

The NTS plans to put them under special control and investigate thoroughly for tax evasion and to find out the source of the money used.

It was revealed that A (26), one of the suspects, has purchased about 120,000 pyong (a unit of land) of land in Yangpyeong over 65 transactions.

A seven-year-old in Seoul bought 10,000 pyong of forestland in Yeoju, and a 15-year-old in Guri bought 8,489 pyong of land in Hongseong in three transactions.

J (39, Seoul) acquired 97.524 pyong of land in Icheon, Gyeonggi through 17 times of donation system. The NTS suspects that the donation was falsified to avoid the Land Transaction Permission law.

Among the types of suspected land speculations, land were purchased through more than two transactions in 19,614 cases, more than 2,000 pyong of land was purchased in 12,496 cases, land was purchased by minors in 256 cases, land was acquired through donation in 17,457 cases, and more than two purchases were made in primary development sites in 4,313 cases.

Also, 6,627 people who were already on the blacklist were again caught for purchasing more land.

Kwang-Hyun Kim kkh@donga.com