The Democratic Party of Korea is pushing to establish a Real Estate Supervisory Service to investigate real estate-related crimes. The Real Estate Supervisory Service is expected to have strong oversight powers, such as checking individuals' financial transaction histories without a court-issued warrant. The Democratic Party said concerns about invasion of personal information are "clearly unfounded."
Kim Hyun-jung, a Democratic Party of Korea floor spokesperson, held a briefing at the National Assembly press center on the 10th and said, "The Democratic Party is proposing a bill to establish the Real Estate Supervisory Service to curb market overheating caused by real estate speculation and to address the capital region's single-core structure." Kim, the floor spokesperson, will on this day sponsor the "Act on the Establishment and Operation of the Real Estate Supervisory Service."
The Real Estate Supervisory Service, an agency under the Prime Minister's Office, will directly investigate various illegal acts related to real estate and plan, oversee, and coordinate investigations by related agencies. The Real Estate Supervisory Service will investigate cases such as notifications from related agencies, reports received by a reporting center, and decisions by the Real Estate Supervision Council. The Real Estate Supervision Council is a deliberative body involving related agencies and private experts, and the Real Estate Illegal Acts Reporting Center will be newly established under the service.
Kim said, "The core of the bill is to create a powerful integrated control tower by establishing the Real Estate Supervisory Service and to secure enforcement power to directly investigate and punish illegal acts by granting the service special judicial police authority," adding, "We will make it clear to the market, under a zero-tolerance principle, that not even 1 won of profit can be gained from real estate illegal acts."
The Real Estate Supervisory Service can require state institutions to submit real estate transaction and financial, taxation, and administrative data. It will be able to view not only real estate-related money transfer records but also sensitive personal information, such as loans from financial institutions, without a court-issued warrant.
Addressing this, Kim said, "The concerns raised by some about invasion of personal information or encroachment on privacy are clearly unfounded and amount to a logic that protects speculators," adding, "In the capital market, related information is already used by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) to investigate stock price manipulation and other matters."
Kim added, "Requests by the Real Estate Supervisory Service for financial data are limited to the administrative investigation stage, and if it shifts to a criminal investigation for prosecution, a separate judicial warrant must be obtained," saying, "Before requesting information, the Real Estate Supervision Council conducts a prior review, only the minimum necessary data is requested, and information used must be destroyed immediately after one year, as stipulated."