Seoul: The previous Moon Jae-in government fabricated key official data on housing prices, income distribution, and employment for nearly four years to make the public believe that its real estate and economic policies were effective, the state audit agency said Thursday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Moon's presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, and the land ministry instructed the Korea Real Estate Board (REB), a public agency affiliated with the land ministry, to adjust weekly and monthly housing price fluctuation rates downward or manipulate statistics on 102 occasions from January 2018 to October 2021. This was done to create an illusion of successful real estate policies, as reported by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI).

The manipulation extended beyond housing data, affecting income distribution and employment figures to mask negative outcomes such as widening income inequality and a rise in non-regular workers. The BAI's revelations came while finalizing its investigation report on data fabrication suspicions during the Moon presidency. Interim results released in September 2023 led the BAI to request the prosecution to investigate 22 former government officials, including four former presidential chiefs of staff for policy and former Land Minister Kim Hyun-mi.

The BAI noted violations of the Statistics Act by Cheong Wa Dae and the land ministry, who ordered the REB to provide housing price statistics in advance, ignoring the REB's 12 requests to cease this practice. The BAI highlighted that receiving and adjusting statistical figures before public release contravened the statistics law.

Moon's administration prioritized curbing surging housing prices, prompting the land ministry to enforce a series of drastic real estate measures, including high taxes on multi-homeowners. Despite efforts to counter real estate speculation, housing prices surged during his tenure.