Exclusive: Mokdong and Gwacheon Breached... 9 Cases of Illegal Housing Subscriptions by National Merit Recipients Detected

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Homeless individuals with national merit status, recommended by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, are eligible for priority apartment allocations. However, it has been discovered that some merit recipients engaged in illegal subscription practices, such as false address transfers, in areas with high competition rates like Mokdong in Seoul and Gwacheon in Gyeonggi Province.

Morning Zoom-In with reporter Park Chan-beom.

[Reporter]

An apartment complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, which issued its subscription public notice in 2020.

Its first-priority subscription competition rate soared to 193 to 1, earning it a reputation as a jackpot subscription.

[Cho Pil-sook / Licensed Real Estate Agent: It was put up for sale at around 550 million to 570 million won. Resales will be permitted starting January 2027, and we expect the price (for the 59-square-meter exclusive area) to reach around 1.8 billion to 1.9 billion won.]

Person A, a national merit recipient, received an allocation under the special supply quota for institutional recommendations after receiving a recommendation from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.

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

It was revealed to be an illegal subscription through a false address transfer, as the recipient actually resided in North Chungcheong Province but moved only their official address to Gyeonggi Province where their child lived in order to apply for the apartment.

In 2020, another merit recipient, Person B, secured an apartment in Mokdong, Seoul, but was similarly caught using a loophole, much like Person A.

Person B had been living in South Gyeongsang Province for 52 years, but relocated only their address to Seoul ahead of applying for the special supply subscription.

Person C, who was allocated an apartment in Songdo, Incheon, was found to have accepted 50 million won from a subscription broker to use their name for a special supply, enabling the broker to illegally sell the subscription rights to a third party.

Over the past five years, a total of nine cases of national merit recipients securing new apartment special supplies through Ministry recommendations have been detected as illegal subscriptions.

This year as well, three suspicious cases were uncovered and placed under investigation.

Critics point out that the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs lacks adequate verification capabilities when recommending candidates for special supply allocations.

[Shin Dong-uk / Member of the People Power Party: We must fundamentally improve the current system, 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 that "among the approximately 4,000 winners of the national merit special supply over the past five years, the illegal subscription detection rate stands at 0.2%, and we are also carrying out preventive activities against illegal subscriptions before receiving applications."

(Video Reported by Park Jin-ho, Kang Dong-chul, Lee Seung-hwan | Video Edited by Park Sun-soo, Data Provided by the Office of Representative Shin Dong-uk of the People Power Party)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.