South Korean police said that a senior official of the “Korea Land and Housing” company was found dead in an apparent suicide on Friday.
The country was shaken by the allegations of speculation on land by public officials, according to “Yonhap” agency.
A passerby found the bleeding official this morning in the garden of an apartment building in the city of Songnam, south of Seoul, and was sent to a hospital, but he died, according to police.
Yonhap said the 56-year-old official appeared to have jumped from the building to commit suicide and had reportedly left a note saying that he had done “unwise” things during his time as head of the North Jeolla Province office of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation.
According to a source, the official also wrote in his note: “I am in agony, and I am sorry for the nation.”
The police are trying to determine the exact cause of the official’s death in light of the absence of clear signs that he has committed illegal practices.
According to the Land and Housing Company, the deceased official was not subject to police investigations into the real estate speculation scandal, and his name was not included in the list of twenty company officials who were confirmed by the government that they had purchased land in locations near Seoul that would be developed as new residential cities, using Inside project information.
In a related context, Presidential Assistant for People’s Communication Jung Man-ho said today, Friday, that the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in South Korea, Byun Chang Hom, has submitted his resignation to the President, Moon Jae-in.
This came amid a lot of uproar due to allegations raised about a number of employees of the “Korea Land and Housing” company to buy lands for speculation by exploiting inside information in cities designated by the government to implement the third new cities project, before the government announced its plan to launch the project.
Regarding the resignation submitted by Pyeon, the South Korean president said, Minister Pyun can only take responsibility.
“Nevertheless, it is very important to implement the February 4th government project to provide housing units across the country without hindrance,” Moon added.
Yonhap said, “This can be interpreted as President Moon has already accepted Minister Pyun’s resignation.”
It is worth noting that the February 4th government project, which was announced on February 4th, aims to provide 830,000 new housing units across the country.
Source: “Yonhap.”