The Board of Audit and Inspection conducted an audit of major national statistics, including state income and employment, according to an annual audit plan. The audit revealed that the President's Secretariat and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport engaged in illegal activities such as manipulating statistical figures and distorting statistical descriptive information. This was done by pressuring the National Statistical Office and the Real Estate Agency.
As a result, a request was made to the prosecution to investigate 22 people suspected of crimes. The main content of the investigation is the manipulation of housing statistics. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport exerted undue influence on the compilation of statistics by the Real Estate Agency more than 94 times from 2017 to 2021, causing the statistical figures to be manipulated.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport manipulated statistical figures on weekdays at the Real Estate Agency since June 2017. They began to exert influence by applying arbitrary weights during the week to ensure that the house price increase rate figure was low, and ordered the real estate agency to reexamine the rate of increase.
In some cases, statistical figures were manipulated by pressuring them to lower the weekly values. After the announcement of real estate measures, statistics were manipulated, such as lowering the rate of change, to make it appear as if the effect was large. As a result, real estate statistics were significantly lower than private statistics.
In 2017 and 2018, statistics were manipulated to make it appear that the market situation was stable, contrary to the reality. In 2019, disclosure was manipulated to make it appear that real estate measures were effective. In 2021, a so-called sample redesign was carried out to completely replace the sample, but in the process, both the sample and new sample figures were manipulated to conceal the fact of past manipulation.
Also confirmed is the household income statistics field. Statistics Korea tightened the household income and distribution statistics. As the income that had been deceived in 2010 turned into a decline in the second quarter of 2017, it has been 15 years. Statistical calculation methods such as additional multiplication by new weighted values were used to manipulate the household income growth rate.
In the field of IA employment statistics, statistics were announced and reported, including attributing the cause of the rapid increase in non-regular workers to the effect of a parallel survey. When it was expected that there would be a surge in illegal workers in the preparation of data, the National Statistical Office was instructed to explain that the parallel survey effect was the main cause, and a specific figure of 300,000 to 500,000 was set.
As a result of the above audit results, a total of 22 people from the four branches were requested to be investigated by the prosecution on September 13 on charges of abuse of power, obstruction of business, and violation of the Statistics Act.
1. The Board of Audit and Inspection conducts an audit of statistics such as state income and employment according to the annual audit plan.
2. As a result of the audit, it was confirmed that the President's Secretariat and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport engaged in illegal activities such as manipulating statistical figures or distorting statistical descriptive information.
3. A request was made to the prosecution to investigate 22 people suspected of crimes.
4. The main content is first of all, the manipulation of housing statistics.
5. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport exerted undue influence on the compilation of statistics by the Real Estate Agency more than 94 times from 2017 to 2021.
6. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport manipulated statistical figures on weekdays at the Real Estate Agency.
7. After receiving preliminary information illegally, they began to exert influence by applying arbitrary weights during the week to ensure that the house price increase rate figure was low.
8. In some cases, statistical figures were manipulated by pressuring them to lower the weekly values.
9. After the announcement of real estate measures, statistics were manipulated, such as lowering the rate of change, to make it appear as if the effect was large.
10. As a result, real estate statistics were significantly lower than private statistics.
11. Public distrust in statistics spread, real estate companies realized sample prices for science and redesigned samples to conceal the fact of manipulation.
12. According to the Statistics Act, public disclosure of statistics being prepared is prohibited, but in June 2017, the PHH Policy Office requested through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport that housing statistics hosted by the Seoul region be provided during the week.
13. The original working staff refused to provide it during the weekdays, but when Chi pressured the director through his duties, it was found that he could no longer endure it and accepted it.
14. Afterwards, a total of 12 requests were made to stop the investigation during the weekdays for reasons such as that real estate could become a legal problem.
15. The Ministry ignored this and instead expanded the scope of advance provision from sales in the Seoul area to sales in the metropolitan area and leases in the Seoul area, and illegally provided shares for more than 4 years until November 2021.
16. In 2017 and 2018, statistics were manipulated to make it appear that the market situation was stable, contrary to the reality.
17. In 2019, disclosure was manipulated to make it appear that real estate measures were effective.
18. After the deadline for Seoul sales prices to rise again in June 2019, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport put more pressure on the real estate agency, such as urging the real estate director to resign or saying that it would blow up the organization and budget.
19. Concerned about the general election, measures such as designating a regulatory area in the metropolitan area were adopted.
20. Instead of postponing it, the scope of the investigation was expanded to the metropolitan area.
21. From the 2nd week of February to the 2nd week of April, just before the general election, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Real Estate Board were manipulated by pressuring the decrease in fluctuations to the metropolitan area.
22. As suspicions of the Real Estate Agency's manipulation of housing statistics arose due to this long-term exercise of influence, the Real Estate Agency released other statistics to cover up the fact of statistical manipulation.
23. In January 2020, the so-called sample price realization, which normalized the sample price that had been manipulated downward for a long time to the market price, was carried out twice.
24. In 2021, a so-called sample redesign was carried out to completely replace the sample, but in the process, both the sample and new sample figures were manipulated to conceal the fact of past manipulation.
25. Also confirmed is the household income statistics field on page 14.
26. Statistics Korea tightened the household income and distribution statistics.
27. Statistical calculation methods such as additional multiplication by new weighted values were used to manipulate the household income growth rate.
28. In the first quarter of 2018,