Exclusive: Veterans Caught in Illegal Housing Subscriptions Targeting 'Lottery Apartments' with 193-to-1 Competition

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Meritorious veterans enjoy the benefit of receiving special allocations for newly built apartments upon recommendation by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. However, it has been revealed that some veterans engaged in illegal subscription practices, such as false residential transfers, to target so-called "lottery apartments" in Mok-dong, Seoul, and Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.

Reporter Park Chan-beom has an exclusive report.

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An apartment complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, opened its subscription applications in 2020.

Its first-tier subscription competition rate soared to 193 to 1, making it famous as a "lottery apartment."

[Cho Pil-sook / Licensed Real Estate Agent: It was offered at 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 an apartment through the "institutional recommendation special allocation" backed by a recommendation from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.

However, A was later caught in a crackdown by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The investigation exposed an "illegal subscription via false residential transfer," as A applied for the apartment while maintaining their actual residence in North Chungcheong Province, having only moved their address to Gyeonggi Province where their child lives.

Similarly, veteran B secured an apartment in Mok-dong, Seoul, back in 2020, but like A, their trickery was caught.

B had been living in South Gyeongsang Province for 52 years, but just ahead of the special supply subscription application, B also moved only their address to Seoul.

Meanwhile, veteran C, who was allocated an apartment in Songdo, Incheon, was caught after taking 50 million won from a subscription broker to use their own name for the special supply, allowing the broker to illegally hand over the subscription rights to a third party.

Over the past five years, there have been nine cases where veterans received special allocations for new apartments through Ministry recommendations only to be caught for illegal subscriptions.

This year as well, three suspicious cases have been detected and placed under investigation.

Critics point out that the Ministry's qualification verification capabilities in recommending veterans for special supplies are problematic.

[Shin Dong-wook / People Power Party Member: 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.]

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs explained to SBS, "Out of about 4,000 successful applicants for veteran special supplies over the past five years, the detection rate for illegal subscriptions is 0.2%, and we are also carrying out preventive activities against illegal subscriptions before receiving applications."

(Video reporting: Park Jin-ho, Kang Dong-chol, Lee Seung-hwan | Video editing: Park Sun-soo | Data provided by the office of People Power Party Representative Shin Dong-wook)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.