PPP Lawmaker Kim Eun-hye Claims Moon Administration Illegally Surveilled Civilians Critical of Real Estate Policy

Allegations have emerged that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport under the Moon Jae-in administration collected remarks and asset statuses of private experts critical of the government's real estate policies under the guise of tracking trends, and reported them to high-ranking officials.

People Power Party Lawmaker Kim Eun-hye disclosed a document titled "Current Status of Real Estate Experts," presumed to have been created in November 2019, during the parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport conducted by the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee today (October 7).

According to Kim, the document contained key statements made by 19 experts who criticized the Moon administration's real estate regulatory policies, as well as specific personal information, including their real estate asset status and the circumstances behind their purchases.

The document was confirmed to have gathered summaries of interviews and remarks by market experts critical of government policies, such as "No regulation can beat the market" and "The price ceiling on newly built apartments will fail."

In addition, it included analyses linking personal details with asset information, noting things like "Need to verify the source of home purchase funds considering the age of the property owner" and "Correlation with currently owned housing."

The targets reportedly included prominent YouTubers, business figures, and former journalists.

Kim stated that there are circumstances indicating the document was compiled by the housing statistics department of the then-Korea Appraisal Board (now the Korea Real Estate Board) under instructions from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and was reported to senior officials in the ministry, including then-Minister Kim Hyun-mee.

She further pointed out that some of the officials involved in the creation and reporting process at the time are still serving in senior positions at the ministry today.

Kim argued that what this document reveals is "illegal surveillance."

She said, "This shows circumstances of attempting to demonize and retaliate against those who opposed their real estate policies, representing a clear case of abuse of power and violation of the Personal Information Protection Act," adding, "I intend to submit all related materials if requested by law enforcement authorities."

In response, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hong Ji-sun said, "I will look into it," and added, "I will provide an answer during the next round of questioning."

Meanwhile, a commotion broke out between lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties as the ruling party countered Kim's claims.

Democratic Party of Korea Lawmaker Bok Ki-wang, the party's ranking member on the committee, pushed back, saying, "Haven't acts that trample on democracy, such as illegal surveillance and unlawful martial law, all been proven in the history of the People Power Party?" He added, "Bringing up unprecedented materials and making definitive claims as if they were facts on the very first day of the parliamentary audit only results in throwing the audit room into turmoil as an arena for political strife."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.