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National merit recipients enjoy the privilege of receiving special allocations for newly built apartments upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. However, several veterans have been caught committing illegal subscription acts, such as false addresses, in pursuit of so-called "lottery apartments" in Mok-dong, Seoul, and Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.
Reporter Park Chan-beom has this exclusive report.
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This apartment complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, put out its subscription notice back in 2020.
With a first-place subscription competition rate of 193 to 1, it was widely known as a "lottery apartment."
[Cho Pil-sook / Certified Public Realtor: It was put on the market for around 550 million to 570 million won. Trading will be possible starting January 2027, and we expect it to be worth around 1.8 billion to 1.9 billion won (based on a dedicated area of 59 square meters).]
Veteran A received a recommendation from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and was allotted an apartment through the "institutional recommendation special supply."
However, A was later caught in a crackdown by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
It was revealed to be a "false-transfer illegal subscription," as A applied for the apartment while maintaining only their address in Gyeonggi Province where their child lived, despite actually residing in North Chungcheong Province.
Veteran B also received an apartment allocation in Mok-dong, Seoul, back in 2020, but like A, B's trick was exposed.
B had been living in South Gyeongsang Province for 52 years, but just before applying for the special supply subscription, B also relocated only their address to Seoul.
Meanwhile, Veteran C, who received an apartment allocation in Songdo, Incheon, was caught after letting a subscription broker use C's name for a special supply in exchange for 50 million won, allowing the broker to resell the subscription rights to a third party.
Over the past five years, there have been 9 cases where veterans received special allocations for new apartments through Ministry recommendations only to be caught for illegal subscriptions.
This year as well, 3 suspicious cases were caught and placed under police investigation.
Critics point out that the Ministry's capacity to verify the qualifications of veterans recommended for special supplies is problematic.
[Shin Dong-wook / Member of the People Power Party: We must fundamentally improve the current structure where the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs directly selects candidates yet remains negligent in verification and management.]
In response, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs told SBS, "Out of some 4,000 successful applicants under the veteran special supply over the past five years, the detection rate for illegal subscriptions is 0.2 percent, and we are also carrying out preventive activities against illegal subscriptions before receiving applications."
(Video reporting: Park Jin-ho, Kang Dong-chul, Lee Seung-hwan | Video editing: Park Sun-soo | Data provided by the office of People Power Party lawmaker Shin Dong-wook)
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