Korea Land and Housing Corporation(LH) has suspended a dozen of its employees amid suspicion of illegal land speculation involving the state-funded company’s former and incumbent officials. 

LH announced the move on Tuesday, adding it also launched an investigation into the allegations. 

Earlier in the day, two major civic groups-People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Lawyers for a Democratic Society- held a joint press conference and said around 10 employees of LH purchased massive properties in Gwangmyeong and Siheung in Gyeonggi Province for several years until 2020. The two southwestern Gyeonggi cities were announced last week as sites of the government’s new town refurbishing projects aimed at resolving the nation’s chronic housing shortage. 

The civic groups claimed that 14 employees and their families purchased around 23-thousand square meters at around 10 billion won between April of 2018 and June of 2020. 

LH said 12 out of the 14 were confirmed to be currently working for the company while the remaining two were former employees. The company, however, denied the job suspension is a punitive measure, saying their charges have yet to be verified.