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Wife of SG Group Chairman Lee Ui-beom Suspected of 'Borrowed-Name' Ownership of Land Near Affiliate Golf Course

[비즈한국] Allegations of violations of the Farmland Act and acquisition of real estate under a borrowed name have been raised against the wife of Chairman Lee Ui-beom, founder of the mid-sized SG Group. Representative Park Sun-hee, wife of Chairman Lee and head of SGK, an affiliate that operates golf courses, submitted a farming plan to the competent authorities when acquiring farmland near a golf course in 2022, but she does not actually farm the land. Suspicions are also emerging that Representative Park may have purchased the farmland under her personal name on behalf of the corporation, which is prohibited from owning such land. SG Group originated from the lifestyle information magazine 'Garosu,' founded by Chairman Lee Ui-beom in 1991. After Garosu.com038030 went public on the KOSDAQ and acquired companies such as Segyemulsan and Shinsung Construction, it expanded its scale to become a mid-sized group with over 20 affiliates and annual revenue exceeding 1 trillion won.

SG Group operates 'SG Beautiful Golf & Resort' in Yeongin-myeon, Asan, South Chungcheong Province. Opened in October 2009, the golf course spans 560,000 pyeong with a total course length of 9,939m and 27 holes, and is managed by SG Group affiliate SGK (formerly SGM). SGK is a real estate management firm established in 1999, with Chairman Lee's wife, Park Sun-hee, serving as CEO. Chairman Lee Ui-beom is the largest shareholder with a 34% stake (152,117 shares), while his three children (Cheong-ah, Seung-hyun, and Jae-won) each hold 22% of the remaining shares.

However, Bizhankook's investigation revealed circumstances suggesting that Representative Park had illegally acquired farmland near the golf course in the past. According to the real estate registry, in January 2022, Representative Park purchased a plot of paddy field in Sinhyeon-ri (4,559㎡) near the golf course entrance for 234 million won, and a plot of field (714㎡) for 21.21 million won. Under the Farmland Act, one can only acquire farmland by submitting a farming plan to the competent authorities stating they intend to farm it themselves, and corporations cannot acquire farmland except for land included in district-level plans.

At the time of the land acquisition, Representative Park's registered address was in Jeongja-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, where she still resides. The distance from her home is too far to suggest she bought the land to farm it personally. A look at satellite maps from portal sites also shows no signs of agricultural activity. One plot of paddy land has been leveled and appears highly likely to be used as a warehouse site for the golf course, while the other field remains overgrown with trees that have been there for some time. Consequently, allegations have been raised that Representative Park may have filed a false farming plan, acquiring the land under her personal name because the corporation could not legally do so, effectively acting as a proxy for the company's needs.

In reality, such illegal practices are rampant during the construction process of golf courses. In fact, an official from a large conglomerate that operates several golf courses in Korea confessed to Bizhankook, "Because corporations cannot purchase farmland, we had no choice but to borrow the personal names of the owner or executives. This is an illegal practice committed by numerous companies, not just us."

Bizhankook attempted to contact SG Beautiful Golf & Resort multiple times to hear SG Group's stance, but was unable to reach them.