00:00 Intro
00:36 "40% Return," "2.4 Million Won a Month Possible"
02:05 Visiting the 'Problematic Land' in Person
03:10 "Why Do We Work? You Should Invest in Land with Me..."
04:13 "This Is Not Fraud, But an Investment Failure"
04:58 "Why Did You Make This Investment?"

These days, the biggest interest among young people is undoubtedly financial investment. Over drinks or meals, people often talk about stocks, asking "How is Samsung Electronics doing?" or "How is SK Hynix doing?" You also frequently hear stories like, "I went on a real estate field trip last weekend," or "I went to check out some apartments." Amid this trend, many young people are reportedly becoming as interested in land investment as they are in stocks or apartments. We received a tip and investigated after learning that the representative of a company that exploited this interest in land investment was recently investigated by the police on suspicion of fraud and forwarded to the prosecution.

1. "40% Return," "2.4 Million Won a Month Possible"
What is land investment? Literally, it means investing in land. The idea is to invest in land that currently looks like landlocked property (land with no road access) and seems useless, because its value will rise if there is positive development news 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 people 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.

[Consultant (2023 Recording): We are currently pushing to open (the campsite) in July next year. We expect the return on investment to be nearly 40%.]

[Person A: It is 56 million won (per caravan), and they said they could pay 2.4 million won a month (in returns) for two years.]

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 designation from forest land to residential/commercial land (building sites), and let them take ownership of the plots. Forest land is undeveloped, raw land overgrown with grass and bushes that you might see while passing by, and there are restrictions on building structures there. Therefore, land that has been cleared of weeds, paved with roads, and equipped with infrastructure like electricity so that other buildings, houses, or commercial shops can be constructed is called a building site (residential/commercial land). And they tell investors to "take ownership." They claim that by then, the value will have risen significantly, so investors can either resell the land with a premium, construct a building, or build a house to live in.

2. Visiting the 'Problematic Land' in Person
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 investors. Some even invested their entire life savings meant for retirement. The investment sites recommended by this company were mainly located in the Chungcheongnam-do area, including 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 rental income from caravans or the land designation changes have not materialized as of June 2026, three years after the contracts were signed. Consequently, the investors filed complaints with the police against the company's representative 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 weeds were not properly cleared, leaving the area completely empty and desolate.

3. "Why Do We Work? You Should Invest in Land with Me..."
The person who preached that land investment would become an extremely important investment in the future was the representative 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 field trips. Among the tips we received, there was a memorable quote from one of his lectures. While encouraging people to invest in forest land around a reservoir, claiming it would be developed, he said, "Why are we working? Right now, you should be investing in land with me."

[Company Representative: You can sell it to realize short-term capital gains, or you can build a house. Why on earth are we working right now?]

However, as a result, the company appears to have gone bankrupt after 2024 and is undergoing rehabilitation proceedings. Yet, even after the company collapsed and until relatively recently, an online cafe run by this representative seemed to be recruiting new investors to participate in field trips.

4. "This Is Not Fraud, But an Investment Failure"
We asked the representative about this. In response, the representative explained to SBS that the situation occurred due to embezzlement by a business partner, so it cannot be called fraud. He claimed he is preparing to resume construction and had no intention of deceiving investors. When reporting on many fraud cases of this type, a typical excuse suspects or defendants make to deny their charges is: "This is not fraud, but an investment failure," claiming they had no criminal intent. This case was no different. However, the business partner targeted by the representative stated, "I was cleared of the embezzlement charges, and I am also a victim." With the partner's explanation, the representative and the partner are essentially playing ping-pong, passing the blame to each other.

5. "Why Did You Make This Investment?"
Now, how does this case sound to you? Does it look like an obvious scam to anyone? Some commented that it resembles the "fraudulent real estate planning" (pseudo-real estate agency) scams that were highly prevalent in the past. Comments on our article included reactions like, "I really don't understand," "How could anyone fall for this?" and "How can people be fooled by promises 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, and one investor's response stood out. The investor said they thought the returns 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 gather, there are risks compared to monthly investments, and there is a limit to the amount of money one can receive each month. They felt that with just this, there is a limit for young people to grow their seed money, lump sums, or assets. On the other hand, jumping into the apartment market is difficult because prices have risen significantly compared to the past. There are also many regulations, and rising loan interest rates add to the burden. Because of these factors, they believed the barrier to entry was lower than that of apartments. In fact, while I knew land investment existed, I did not know the details, but I could at least empathize with the investment anxiety felt by the youth today, when everyone is focused on financial management. The sweet talk of the representative we investigated can be seen as having successfully exploited these points of anxiety felt by young people. While some say aggressive investment is sometimes necessary depending on individual tendencies, it might be necessary to calmly step back and reflect whenever an investment proposal comes your way, regardless of the method.

Reported by Kim Min-jun | Organized by Shin Hee-sook | Camera by Kim Nam-sung | Video Editing by Ryu Ji-soo | Design by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News