Baekhyeon-dong retaining wall scandal remains a present danger
Published: 12 May. 2025, 00:04
Cheong Chul-gun
The author is a columnist of JoongAng Ilbo.
“I’ll be forever grateful if you help cover this up.”
“I don’t even sleep under a blanket — I don’t like covering things.”
In May 2021, while reporting on suspicions of preferential treatment in the approval of a large apartment complex in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam, a journalist from the JoongAng Ilbo refused a veiled offer from the chairman of the project’s development company. Over the months that followed, the reporter uncovered and published a series of exclusive stories highlighting both the corruption and safety risks linked to the development.
![Kim Jin-tae, former head of the People Power Party’s special committee on candidate vetting, and Rep. Kim Eun-hye visit the so-called “retaining wall apartment” complex in Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang District, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on November 2, 2021. [NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PHOTOJOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/12/1e42fde8-d4bd-46cd-87ba-296f383ab5c4.jpg)
That investigation helped spark a criminal probe, which led to prosecutions and a multiyear legal battle. In November 2024, the Supreme Court sentenced Kim In-seop, a former CEO of Korea Housing Technology, to five years in prison and ordered him to pay 6.36 billion won in restitution. Kim, who had once served as a senior campaign official for Lee Jae-myung, the current presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, was convicted of lobbying for zoning and construction approvals in return for large sums of money. The court found he had used his connection to Jeong Jin-sang, then-policy chief in the Seongnam city government and one of Lee’s closest aides, to secure these favors.
The Baekhyeon-dong development produced one of the most lucrative outcomes in the history of Korean real estate development. A parcel of land previously designated as greenbelt for a national research institute was rezoned as a semi-residential area, enabling a four-level increase in zoning status and granting a floor-area ratio of 316 percent. For comparison, even new apartments in Seoul’s upscale Jamsil neighborhood rarely exceed 270 percent.
This aggressive upzoning came with physical consequences. In order to accommodate the new construction, developers carved into a hillside, erecting a massive retaining wall that reached 51 meters in height and extended 300 meters in length — more than three times the Forest Service’s recommended limit of 15 meters. Internal debates within the Seongnam Urban Planning Committee were intense, particularly because geologists had flagged the area as a fault zone vulnerable to landslides. At least one city engineer, who held a Ph.D. in civil engineering, opposed the project on safety grounds. He was later demoted to manage a waste sorting facility and eventually fired. Though he won a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, he resigned shortly afterward.
Nonetheless, the construction approval was passed in the fifth planning committee meeting, with eight out of 14 members voting in favor, one recommending reconsideration, and five abstaining. Permits were swiftly granted, and then-Mayor Lee Jae-myung signed off on the final development plan.
The legal implications are not over. A retrial on charges that Lee spread false information — specifically, his claim that the land use changes were made under pressure from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport — has been postponed until after the presidential election. Legal experts say the case could result in the invalidation of his candidacy if a guilty verdict is upheld.
Rather than wait for the courts to decide, the Democratic Party has launched an all-out campaign against the judiciary. After the Supreme Court issued a guilty verdict in Lee’s prior election law violation case, party figures accused the justices of being “enemies of the state.” The party has proposed hearings, impeachment proceedings, and even special investigations targeting the justices involved. A bill has been introduced to expand the number of Supreme Court justices to 30.
Such threats are uncomfortably reminiscent of Korea’s authoritarian past. During the Chun Doo Hwan regime in the 1980s, judicial independence was repeatedly undermined. In the case of Kim Jae-gyu, the intelligence chief who assassinated President Park Chung Hee, the first and appellate trials were completed in just 24 days. Although dissenting voices within the Supreme Court argued against convicting Kim for treason, six justices who expressed that view were pressured to resign. Justice Yang Byung-ho, who refused, was detained and tortured by military intelligence before finally stepping down. After his release, he met the chief justice in a disoriented state, spilling coffee onto his own shirt.
![Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung waves to supporters as he arrives at the Seoul Central District Court on March 4 for a continued first trial hearing on allegations involving development scandals in Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, and Wirye New Town, as well as corporate sponsorship of Seongnam FC. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/12/417d6ba3-66fa-49ef-b939-37cb7197243c.jpg)
That chilling episode set the stage for the court’s complete capitulation. On Jan. 23, 1981, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the death sentence for future President Kim Dae-jung in the fabricated “insurrection” case. The judiciary had become an instrument of authoritarian power.
The Democratic Party’s current behavior bears disturbing similarities. The Baekhyeon-dong scandal is not a political dispute. It is a clear case of collusion between developers and officials, compromising public safety for private gain. Candidate Lee Jae-myung owes the public a full explanation of his role. His party must immediately cease its campaign of intimidation against the judiciary.
No matter how large its majority, neither the president nor the legislature may interfere with the courts. That is a nonnegotiable pillar of a constitutional democracy. If that final safeguard falls, Korea cannot credibly call itself a nation of laws.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
The author is a columnist of JoongAng Ilbo.
“I’ll be forever grateful if you help cover this up.”
“I don’t even sleep under a blanket — I don’t like covering things.”
In May 2021, while reporting on suspicions of preferential treatment in the approval of a large apartment complex in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam, a journalist from the JoongAng Ilbo refused a veiled offer from the chairman of the project’s development company. Over the months that followed, the reporter uncovered and published a series of exclusive stories highlighting both the corruption and safety risks linked to the development.
Kim Jin-tae, former head of the People Power Party’s special committee on candidate vetting, and Rep. Kim Eun-hye visit the so-called “retaining wall apartment” complex in Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang District, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on November 2, 2021. [NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PHOTOJOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION]
The Baekhyeon-dong development produced one of the most lucrative outcomes in the history of Korean real estate development. A parcel of land previously designated as greenbelt for a national research institute was rezoned as a semi-residential area, enabling a four-level increase in zoning status and granting a floor-area ratio of 316 percent. For comparison, even new apartments in Seoul’s upscale Jamsil neighborhood rarely exceed 270 percent.
This aggressive upzoning came with physical consequences. In order to accommodate the new construction, developers carved into a hillside, erecting a massive retaining wall that reached 51 meters in height and extended 300 meters in length — more than three times the Forest Service’s recommended limit of 15 meters. Internal debates within the Seongnam Urban Planning Committee were intense, particularly because geologists had flagged the area as a fault zone vulnerable to landslides. At least one city engineer, who held a Ph.D. in civil engineering, opposed the project on safety grounds. He was later demoted to manage a waste sorting facility and eventually fired. Though he won a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, he resigned shortly afterward.
Nonetheless, the construction approval was passed in the fifth planning committee meeting, with eight out of 14 members voting in favor, one recommending reconsideration, and five abstaining. Permits were swiftly granted, and then-Mayor Lee Jae-myung signed off on the final development plan.
The legal implications are not over. A retrial on charges that Lee spread false information — specifically, his claim that the land use changes were made under pressure from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport — has been postponed until after the presidential election. Legal experts say the case could result in the invalidation of his candidacy if a guilty verdict is upheld.
Rather than wait for the courts to decide, the Democratic Party has launched an all-out campaign against the judiciary. After the Supreme Court issued a guilty verdict in Lee’s prior election law violation case, party figures accused the justices of being “enemies of the state.” The party has proposed hearings, impeachment proceedings, and even special investigations targeting the justices involved. A bill has been introduced to expand the number of Supreme Court justices to 30.
Such threats are uncomfortably reminiscent of Korea’s authoritarian past. During the Chun Doo Hwan regime in the 1980s, judicial independence was repeatedly undermined. In the case of Kim Jae-gyu, the intelligence chief who assassinated President Park Chung Hee, the first and appellate trials were completed in just 24 days. Although dissenting voices within the Supreme Court argued against convicting Kim for treason, six justices who expressed that view were pressured to resign. Justice Yang Byung-ho, who refused, was detained and tortured by military intelligence before finally stepping down. After his release, he met the chief justice in a disoriented state, spilling coffee onto his own shirt.
Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung waves to supporters as he arrives at the Seoul Central District Court on March 4 for a continued first trial hearing on allegations involving development scandals in Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, and Wirye New Town, as well as corporate sponsorship of Seongnam FC. [YONHAP]
That chilling episode set the stage for the court’s complete capitulation. On Jan. 23, 1981, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the death sentence for future President Kim Dae-jung in the fabricated “insurrection” case. The judiciary had become an instrument of authoritarian power.
The Democratic Party’s current behavior bears disturbing similarities. The Baekhyeon-dong scandal is not a political dispute. It is a clear case of collusion between developers and officials, compromising public safety for private gain. Candidate Lee Jae-myung owes the public a full explanation of his role. His party must immediately cease its campaign of intimidation against the judiciary.
No matter how large its majority, neither the president nor the legislature may interfere with the courts. That is a nonnegotiable pillar of a constitutional democracy. If that final safeguard falls, Korea cannot credibly call itself a nation of laws.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)