Seoul: The government has identified 88 suspicious property transactions involving foreign nationals, as revealed by officials on Tuesday. This discovery comes from a special probe focusing on non-housing real estate deals.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the investigation, conducted collaboratively by the land ministry and the Office for Government Policy Coordination, spanned from September until last week. It uncovered 126 suspected illegal activities linked to 88 transactions reported between July 2024 and July of this year.

The suspicious cases predominantly involved deals related to "officetels," which are multipurpose buildings that contain both residential and commercial units, as well as land transactions. The suspected violations include illegal inflow of overseas funds, unauthorized rental operations by foreigners without proper residency status, and misuse of bank loans.

Officials have escalated these cases to several authorities for further action, including the justice ministry, the Financial Services Commission, and the National Tax Service. This follows a prior investigation into housing transactions involving foreigners, which identified 210 suspected illegal deals.

The land ministry has announced plans to continue rigorous monitoring of foreign real estate transactions into the next year. They also intend to intensify on-site inspections to eliminate illegal transactions.