Joo Jin-woo accuses justice minister nominee of destroying farmland speculation evidence

People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo on Tuesday leveled sharp criticism at Lee Yong-cheol, the nominee for justice minister, asking whether Lee was already moving to destroy evidence of farmland speculation.

Joo made the remarks on his Facebook page, where he posted photos and video footage submitted by a tipster. The images show three people moving chairs and other items stacked in front of a container structure on the property.

Regarding the footage, Joo said Lee appeared to be "hiring workers to destroy evidence of farmland speculation," and added that "the shape of the farmland, which had been left unattended, is being altered ahead of the confirmation hearing."

Joo also questioned whether Lee could credibly claim to have farmed the land himself. "He says his family cultivated it, but can we really believe that someone who worked as a lawyer in Seoul and served as head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration personally tilled the land?" Joo said. He added that Lee had purchased farmland and forest adjacent to a country home he gifted to his daughter, calling it "a textbook case of buying land for capital gains — similar to the Han Seong-suk prime minister case."

Joo doubled down, saying President Lee Jae Myung had pledged to focus investigations on Greater Seoul farmland that had been purchased but not actually cultivated, and that Lee Yong-cheol "should be the first target of that farmland probe."

Joo also called on the government to act, urging relevant authorities to "immediately launch an investigation to prevent the nominee from hiring workers to destroy evidence."

Joo had first raised the farmland speculation allegations against Lee at a press conference Monday. At that event, Joo said Lee had illegally installed a container structure on a plot of farmland at 69-2 Bonghyeon-ri, Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, in violation of the Building Act, and had falsely registered the property during his time as DAPA chief — listing it not as farmland but as a "land with buildings" related to animals and plants.