Dozens Invested for "40% Return"... The Absurd Reality

What is land investment? Literally, it is investing in land. It means investing under the premise that even if a piece of land currently looks like landlocked property and seems useless, its value will rise if there are positive development prospects in the future. Specifically, there is "caravan investment." They buy seemingly useless landlocked property, develop it, set up caravans or camping cars to run a campsite, and ask you to invest a portion of the caravan purchase cost. In return, they promise to distribute the money earned from running the campsite like monthly rent.
   
There is also "forest land investment." These land development companies own multiple plots of land and tell investors that if they invest, the company will clear the land, change its zoning from forest land to a building site, and then let them purchase the parcels. Forest land, as you might see when passing by, is raw, undeveloped land covered in thick vegetation, and there are restrictions on building structures there. Therefore, clearing the weeds, laying down roads, and installing infrastructure like electricity to make it possible to construct other buildings, houses, or commercial shops turns it into a building site. Then, they tell you to "purchase the parcel." By then, the value will have risen significantly, so they say you can take the land and resell it with a premium, erect a building, or build a house to live in.
  Believing these words, about 30 to 40 investors, including a young man we interviewed, invested anywhere from a few million won to hundreds of millions of won per person. Of course, there were also middle-aged and elderly people. Some invested their entire life savings meant for retirement. The investment sites recommended by this company were mainly located in parts of Chungcheongnam-do Province, such as Seosan, Taean, Dangjin, and Hongseong. These were the places where caravan or forest land investments were pitched. The money gathered this way amounted to about 3 billion won, but the promised monthly caravan rental income or the zoning change to building sites has not materialized even now in June 2026, three years after the contracts were signed. Consequently, the investors filed complaints with the police against the company's CEO and several managers on charges of fraud. I also visited several of the problematic sites. Most notably, I visited the caravan site, but let alone camping cars, even the overgrown weeds had not been cleared properly, leaving it completely empty and desolate.

The person who preached that land investment would become an incredibly important investment in the future was the CEO of a land investment company, who was somewhat famous in this industry. He reportedly wrote books under his own name, held lectures, and gathered potential investors by personally taking them on site visits.


Also, among the tips we received, there was a memorable phrase from one of his lectures. While urging people to invest in forest land around a certain reservoir, claiming it would be developed, he said, "Why do we labor? You need to invest in land with me right now."
 
However, as a result, this company appears to have gone bankrupt after passing through 2024 and is currently undergoing rehabilitation proceedings. Yet, even after the company collapsed and until relatively recently, an online community run by this CEO seemed to be recruiting new investors to participate in site visits.
  We asked the CEO about this. In response, the CEO explained to SBS that because the situation arose due to embezzlement by a business partner, it cannot be called fraud, and that he is preparing to resume construction, claiming he had no intention of deceiving investors. When covering many fraud cases of this kind, the typical excuse suspects or defendants make while denying their charges is, "This is not fraud, but an investment failure," arguing they had no criminal intent. This case was no different. However, the business partner targeted by the CEO stated, "I was cleared of the embezzlement charges, and I am also a victim." The explanations from the business partner and the CEO have turned into a game of ping-pong, with each blaming the other.
  Now, how does this case sound to you? Does it look like an obvious fraud to anyone? Some said it resembled the "planning real estate" scams (fraudulent land sales) that were highly prevalent in the past. Comments on our article included, "I really don't understand," "How do you fall for this?" and "How can anyone be fooled by claims of making quick money all at once?"


So we asked, "Why on earth did you make this investment?" While the obvious answer is money, we asked if there was any other reason. One investor's response was particularly memorable: they thought the return would be higher than stocks, and the barrier to entry would be lower than apartments. Although the stock market is highly active these days and people talk about stocks whenever they meet, there are risks compared to monthly investments, and there is a limit to the money one can receive each month. They felt that this was not enough for young people to grow their seed money, lump sums, or assets. On the other hand, jumping into the apartment market is daunting because prices have risen significantly compared to before. There are also many regulations and rising loan interest rates, which pose a burden. Because of these factors, they thought the barrier to entry was lower than that of apartments. To be honest, although I knew land investment existed, I did not know the details, but I could at least empathize with the investment anxiety felt by the younger generation in an era where everyone is interested in personal finance. The sweet talk of the CEO we investigated can be seen as having successfully exploited this anxiety felt by young people. While some say aggressive investment is sometimes necessary depending on individual disposition, it might be wise to calmly take a step back and reflect whenever any kind of investment proposal comes your way.
 
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.