Lee: "The Era of Making Money Through Real Estate Speculation Must End"... Announces Third Crackdown

President Lee Releases National Office of Investigation Report
3,565 People Caught, 2,151 Referred to Prosecutors in One Year
Farmland Speculation Largest Category at 25%

President Lee Jae-myung reaffirmed his resolve on the 5th to crack down firmly on illegal real estate activities, saying, "The era of making money through illegal acts, violations of the law and crimes such as real estate speculation must come to an end." He also announced a third special crackdown, after reporting that police had taken action against 3,565 people involved in real estate crimes over the past year.

President Lee Jae-myung speaks at a senior secretaries' meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Nov. 5, 2026. Yonhap News Agency

On X (formerly Twitter), Lee shared the results of a special crackdown on real estate crimes by the Korean National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation, describing them as "the results of the National Office of Investigation's crackdown on real estate speculation over the past year since I took office."

He added, "They say the third crackdown will begin soon. If you have engaged in any illegal activity, please correct it now," and said, "The era of making money through illegal acts, violations of the law and crimes such as real estate speculation must come to an end, shouldn't it?"

According to the Korean National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation, a total of 3,565 people were caught in two special crackdowns on real estate crimes conducted from October 17 last year through October 31 this year. Of these, 2,151 were referred to prosecutors, and 16 were arrested. Another 714 were not referred to prosecutors, while investigations into 700 people are ongoing.

By type of crime, farmland speculation was the most common, involving 898 people (25.2%). It was followed by 795 people (22.3%) involved in disrupting the supply process, including through fraudulent housing applications, and 726 people (20.4%) involved in illegal brokerage, such as artificially inflating home prices. Authorities also caught 616 people (17.3%) for nominee ownership or resale without registration, 353 (9.9%) for reconstruction-related corruption, 169 (4.7%) for planned real estate schemes and 8 (0.2%) for speculation using inside information.

The crackdown began as a follow-up measure to last October's October 15 housing market stabilization measures. In the first special crackdown, police caught 1,493 people and referred 640 to prosecutors. The second crackdown ran from March 16 this year through the end of October. The two crackdowns focused on investigating acts that disrupted trading order in the real estate market or generated profits through illegal means.

In March, Lee also shared the results of the first special crackdown, saying, "I will root out these heinous real estate crimes that are ruining the country," and stressing that "South Korea has no future without normalizing this ruinous 'real estate republic.'"

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