The Board of Audit & Inspection of Korea investigates The Church of Almighty God and asks Boeun-gun for information on the acquisition of farmland, agricultural corporations, etc.

According to the news on the afternoon of August 29 on the Korean Religion and Truth website, the Korea Inspection Service is collecting relevant information on the centralized purchase of land by foreigners, which has become the biggest topic in the Baoen area of Chungbuk, and its outcome has attracted much attention.

Among them, the investigation will focus on the investigation of the cult "Almighty God" group that purchased more than 200,000 square meters of land for repayment. Since the establishment of the agricultural corporation in 2018, the group has purchased a large amount of farmland in the Boeun area of Chungbuk, and some people advocate that the government should formulate a restriction plan.

The Almighty God Cult Victims Countermeasure Committee held a press conference at Boeun County Office on the 17th, urging a thorough investigation: "Almighty God Cult disrupts the real estate market by purchasing domestic farmland." In this case, the inspection The hospital has recently attempted to conduct a comprehensive survey on the situation of farmland in Boeun-gun, so the trend has attracted much attention.

It is reported that the Supervisory Service requested Boeun-gun to provide information on the acquisition of farmland and the status of agricultural corporations last week.

Figure 1: The land purchased by the Korean Church of Almighty God in the Boeun area

The problems exposed in this survey of The Church of Almighty God are as follows:

1. The agricultural legal person of The Church of Almighty God has two naturalized persons, and the remaining board members are all Chinese believers.

The agricultural legal person of The Church of Almighty God has two naturalized persons, and the remaining board members are all Chinese believers. The management is chaotic, and the employees and labor are mainly from nearby members of The Church of Almighty God. In response to this investigation, The Church of Almighty God internally criticized every believer, who believed that in China, people from poor families should investigate whether they violated the real estate real-name system/the source of funds is not their own property. This is the exclusion of the weak and goes against the spirit of humanity.

2. Even the "Gun Office staff" raised the issue of "selling farmland" to Almighty God, and the peasants felt regretful.

Originally the land of the county office staff, the county office staff sold the farmland (located in the crane forest) to the Church of Almighty God. It is said that a higher fee than the current market price is charged, and there are real estate sales middlemen. Although Korean, his desk is said to be full of documents for sale. The Baoen area itself has a large number of elderly people, and the farmland is maliciously speculated. The Church of Almighty God in China has become the real savior and came to Korea to buy land frantically. This made the local farmers feel very sorry. The county office is vague on its policy, which is a very dangerous behavior, and it is considered that excessive land sales will affect the social stability of local residents.

3. In the process of buying and selling transactions, no transfers are ever made, only cash transactions.

The payment method is not transfer, and the cash is packed in the bag. Instead, it is sent in a cash bag to avoid retaining transaction evidence.

The source of funding is also unclear. The local village chief said that he heard that they were carrying cash bags to pay. Transactions are made in cash without the use of a bank account.

Figure 2: Information on the legal person of Canaan Agricultural Company of The Church of Almighty God in Korea

4. The Church of Almighty God accounts for 72% of the land purchased by foreigners, making it the biggest dark horse among foreigners.

According to Boeun County and others on the 24th, a total of 226 parcels of 63,496 square meters (19,725 pyeong) of land in Boeun County were transferred to foreign investors from 2018 to July last year.

Foreigners also bought 15 buildings, including multifamily and detached houses. Land and buildings purchased by foreigners amounted to 19.27 billion won. The problem is, among foreigners, The Church of Almighty God has bought a lot of land.

It is understood that the land area purchased by Almighty God Group in the past four years is 446,000 square meters, accounting for 72% of the land purchased by foreigners. In addition, local residents claim that the farmland they are buying is 20-40% higher than the actual transaction price.

Even if foreigners buy a lot of real estate, there is currently no way to regulate the purchase of farmland by foreigners and related companies. In May last year, Boeun-gun proposed to relevant government departments to enact laws restricting foreign land ownership.

Figure 3: The agricultural base purchased by The Church of Almighty God in Korea

5. Investigation progress

 Regarding the progress, a county official said: "I don't know the progress of the Audit Committee of the Audit Office regarding the purchase of foreign land. However, in the second half of this year, the audit committee of the Audit Office will investigate Boeun County." No further details were disclosed to reporters.