▲ CEO Kim Heon-dong of Seoul Housing & Communities Corp. announces in Seoul on Jan. 11, 2024, his firm's plan to file a fraud complaint against the Korean National Committee for U.N.-Habitat. (Yonhap)

UN-Habitat committee-complaint

Seoul's housing developer files fraud complaint against purported Korean committee for UN-Habitat

SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- The Seoul city's housing developer will file a fraud complaint against the purported Korean National Committee for U.N.-Habitat, accusing it of unfairly securing campaign projects under a false title as the international body's local branch, officials said Thursday.

CEO Kim Heon-dong of Seoul Housing & Communities Corp. (SH) said the complaint will be filed with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against the national committee as well as its two former chiefs, including Park Soo-hyun who served as senior secretary for public communication for former President Moon Jae-in.

The Korean National Committee for U.N.-Habitat had its legal license revoked by the National Assembly Secretariat in November after allegations arose that the organization collected donations posing as a branch of the United Nations, even though it did not have U.N. authorization.

The committee was founded in 2019, and Park served as its inaugural chair.

SH accused the committee of inflicting property damage by unfairly taking 398 million won (US$302,776) in funds for joint social campaign programs for the past three years.

"The non-U.N. authorized Korean committee illegally used the U.N.-Habitat logo, making SH believe it was an officially authorized organization," the SH CEO said.

In response to the controversy surrounding the committee, Park said online last year that the committee is not a branch office of the U.N., but an independent organization with its own administrative and financial authority.

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