President Lee: "Fraudulent Housing Application Wins Canceled... Comprehensive Investigations to Continue"

Promises strict action after 354 suspected fraudulent housing subscription applications uncovered
"I will ensure no one benefits by breaking the rules"
False address registration in 334 cases...94% of cases uncovered
Criminal penalties, contract

President Lee Jaemyung said on the 10th that the government would continue comprehensive investigations into fraudulent housing applications and impose strict penalties. The statement followed the government’s detection of 354 suspected cases of fraudulent applications at major housing developments, including in Seoul. He warned that confirmed violations would lead not only to criminal punishment but also to financial penalties, including cancellation of winning applications.

President Lee Jaemyung speaks at a Cabinet meeting at the Blue House on Nov. 10, 2026. Yonhap News

On his X account (formerly Twitter) that day, President Lee shared an article about the government’s detection of fraudulent housing applications and said, “If an investigation confirms that an application was fraudulent, it will result not only in criminal punishment but also in substantial financial losses, including cancellation of the winning application.”

He added, “Comprehensive investigations will continue in the future,” and stressed, “I will make sure we build a common-sense country where people cannot profit by breaking the rules and do not suffer losses for following them.”

President Lee’s message is in line with the government’s zero-tolerance policy toward real estate speculation and market manipulation. On November 5, he had introduced the National Office of Investigation’s results in cracking down on real estate speculation, saying, “The era of making money through real estate speculation and other illegal, unlawful, and criminal acts must come to an end, shouldn’t it?” The government’s policy is to pursue expanded housing supply and measures to stabilize the market while thoroughly recovering profits obtained through illegal acts.

According to the results of a joint inspection announced that day by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Real Estate Monitoring Task Force under the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the government examined winning applicants for about 25,000 housing units at 43 popular developments in regulated and other areas, including Seoul, where units were offered between July 2025 and March 2026. The inspection uncovered 354 suspected cases of fraudulent applications, a 40.5% increase from the 252 cases found in an inspection in the first half of 2025. The government said, however, that the increase reflected an expansion in the number of inspectors and the investigation period, as well as stronger verification methods.

False address registration accounted for 334 cases, or 94.4% of all cases. Applicants moved their registered addresses to houses, commercial properties, factories, warehouses, or motels where they did not actually live in order to qualify as local residents or increase their points for dependent family members. The inspection also uncovered 18 cases of sham unmarried status, in which applicants failed to register their marriages to homeowners in order to retain eligibility to apply as people without a home. One case each of selling housing application eligibility and falsely resigning from a job was also confirmed.

In one case, a high-income doctor couple falsely resigned just before the housing recruitment notice was issued and returned to work afterward in order to meet the income threshold for the special housing allocation for newlyweds. The investigation also included a case in which a household that owned three homes falsely registered its children as residents of another area and won an application for a housing unit in Seoul.

The government plans to refer all 354 cases for investigation. If an application is confirmed to be fraudulent, the offender may face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won under the Housing Act. The consequences may also include cancellation of the supply contract, forfeiture of the deposit, and a ban on applying for housing for up to 10 years.

The government is also stepping up its enforcement efforts. From October 2025 through October 2026, the National Office of Investigation at the Korean National Police Agency conducted a special crackdown on real estate crimes, referring 2,151 people for prosecution and arresting 16. On November 1, it launched its third special crackdown, which will continue through the end of October 2027.

As President Lee continues to call for severe punishment and ongoing monitoring of illegal real estate activities, the government is expected to further intensify investigations and enforcement across the housing application market. In particular, because fraudulent applications deprive legitimate applicants of the chance to win, the latest measures are seen as a policy message that goes beyond blocking illicit gains and aims to restore fairness in housing allocation.

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