[Real Estate] He bought property to build an empire where the members of the church could live?

1. What has been falsely reported?

Many media outlets put out false reports against former chairman Yoo Byung-eon, claiming 'He bought property to build an empire where the members of the church could live.' Through discussions with the Press Arbitration Commission and those directly related to the press, the media was corrected or deleted. Examples of false reports are as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Reports vs. Facts

 

He bought property to build an empire where members of the church could live.

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Among members of the Evangelical Baptist Church, like-minded people gathered to form an agricultural cooperative, and they own land in the name of the agricultural cooperative in order to grow organic agricultural products in Ulleungdo and Cheongsong, etc. These were purchased by voluntary donations by members of the church and are not privately owned by former Chairman Yoo Byung-eon. Therefore, expressions such as 'Yoo Byung-eon’s empire' or 'The Salvation Group’s empire' are not appropriate, and this has been reported to be corrected and countered through various media reports.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Related corrections and counter-arguments

<The Gwangju Ilbo, November 02, 2014>

[A Counter-argument report related to “Evangelical Baptist Church’s Agricultural Cooperative proprietorship”]

In an article from the past April 28th online newspaper titled, “[Sewol ferry disaster - spurs search and seizure investigation],  Unreasonable ship expansion and poor initial management,” by ‘Jeong Jo Joon’”, they reported “Currently, Chairman Yoo's family is under suspicion of possessing land under the disguise of an agricultural cooperative. As a farming corporation, they would have no restrictions on the purchase of farmland and would be exempt from acquisition and income tax, and so, the former Chairman Yoo’s family is being suspected of leading the association to increase their wealth.” In response, the Evangelical Baptist Church has revealed that the land owned by the corresponding farming corporation is owned by members of the Evangelical Baptist Church for the cultivation of organic agricultural products, and thus, there is no truth in the statement that this was disguised by Chairman Yoo's family. This article was revised following the Press Arbitration Commission.

 

 

<Economic Storm April 15, 2015>

[Corrections on reports related to former Chairman Yoo Byung-eon]

In addition, it is true that former Chairman Yoo has worked and managed a business with like-minded members of the church, but after resigning from frontline management, he did not hold a position, nor own any shares, nor was he involved in management, and it is not true that he owned this property, etc. Consequently, it has been confirmed that the reports that this was Yoo Byung-eon’s empire are false.

 

 

 

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