MLIT Uncovers 346 Suspected Illegal Transactions in Newly Designated Housing Supply Areas in Seoul Metropolitan Area

249 Cases of False Reporting on Prices and Contract Dates—Nearly Half of Total
Pre-screened Corporate Buyers, Non-local Purchases, and Repeated Trades
Corporation That Spent 22.25 Billion Won Provided No Proof of Funding
"Active Special Inv

The government has uncovered over 300 suspected illegal transactions following a focused investigation into unusual real estate deals in areas designated for new housing supply in the Seoul metropolitan region. Various underhanded schemes have come to light, ranging from speculative activities exploiting corporate entities to tax evasion and loan misappropriation.

On July 30, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that, as part of an intensive investigation surrounding the "Urban Housing Supply Expansion Plan (1·29)" unveiled in January this year, a total of 346 suspected illegal transactions were detected near newly designated housing supply sites in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.

This investigation covered 1,072 property transactions carried out over the past five years (from January 2021 to February 2026) across seven neighborhoods in Seoul, such as Nowon-gu and Yongsan-gu, as well as in areas like Gwacheon, Seongnam, and Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi Province. The ministry focused closely on deals deemed highly disruptive to market order, including purchases by corporations or non-local buyers, repeated short-term trading, and share splitting.

As a result, a total of 457 alleged violations were uncovered from the 346 detected cases, since several transactions involved multiple offenses under the law, such as criminal fraud and tax evasion. By type, "false reporting of price and contract date" accounted for the largest number of cases, with 249, followed by "excessive related-party borrowing," with 178. There were also numerous cases of "misuse of loan funds (16 cases)" and "violations of the Real Estate Brokerage Act (14 cases)."

Some highly unusual speculative schemes were also exposed. One corporation, which purchased 19 parcels of land and houses in Gangseo-gu, Seoul for approximately 22.25 billion won, failed to submit any documentation on the source of the funds and is now subject to a National Tax Service investigation. In another case in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, a corporation acquired land worth around 3.2 billion won by borrowing 3.21 billion won from a shareholder company without any promissory note.

A corporation borrowed 800 million won from its CEO to purchase a detached house in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, for 2.7 billion won. Subsequently, it secured an 800 million won working capital loan from a financial institution to repay the CEO's loan. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

The investigation also uncovered instances where funds meant for company management were misappropriated for real estate speculation. For example, a corporation that purchased a detached house in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, for 2.7 billion won borrowed 800 million won from its CEO to pay the remaining balance, and then took out an 800 million won working capital loan to repay the CEO. The act of using a working capital loan—intended for payroll and purchase of raw materials—for a home purchase has been reported to financial authorities for circumvention.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to notify the National Tax Service, the Financial Services Commission, local governments, and the police about the newly detected suspicious transactions and will take strict measures such as collecting unpaid taxes and imposing fines.

Shin Yun-geun, Land Policy Director at the Ministry, stated, "We will continue to actively conduct targeted investigations into abnormal transactions that disrupt market order and will respond firmly in cooperation with relevant agencies whenever suspected illegal transactions are identified."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.