South Korea's tax agency said Thursday it has launched probes into suspected tax evasion by 165 people and entities that sought to take profit from speculative or illegal property transactions.

The National Tax Service (NTS) said it has cracked down on 158 individuals and others over alleged tax evasion.

The tax agency has been looking into land transactions made around six public housing development sites in satellite cities outside Seoul as part of the country's efforts to stem property speculation.

The probes came amid heightened public outcry over a land speculation scandal involving officials from Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), the public housing developer.

The LH scandal erupted in early March after two civic groups accused 14 LH officials of allegedly using insider information to buy farmland in two satellite cites south of Seoul between April 2018 and June 2020, before they were formally designated as development sites.

The government plans to require all public officials to report their asset status, including property holdings, and confiscate illegal gains from speculative real estate deals as it seeks to root out property speculation by public servants. (Yonhap)