Kang Shin-chul Omits Son's 700 Million Won Commercial Property from Asset Report, Cites 'Simple Mistake'

[Anchor]

It has been newly revealed that Kang Shin-chul, nominee for Minister of National Defense, omitted a commercial property worth 700 million won purchased by his son when submitting confirmation hearing documents to the National Assembly. While Kang's camp explained that it was a simple mistake and supplemented the materials, questions are also being raised about the source of the purchase funds for his son, who recently started working.

Here is a report by reporter Go Jeong-hyeon.

[Reporter]

A commercial building in the Yangji Village apartment complex in Sunae-dong, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province.

The son of Defense Minister nominee Kang Shin-chul, born in 1996, purchased a 13-square-meter commercial space on June 30.

The purchase price is 700 million won.

However, nominee Kang did not list this commercial property in the property declaration section of the confirmation hearing request submitted to the National Assembly.

Rep. Chun Ha-ram of the Reform Party pressed whether it was an "intentional omission," claiming that since the project implementer for the apartment's reconstruction was designated and announced on July 27, the purchase of the commercial building prior to that was likely intended to obtain apartment pre-sale rights.

[Chun Ha-ram / Reform Party Representative: It was purchased only on June 30, right before the designation of the project implementer, as if aiming for the succession of reconstruction association members.]

However, local real estate agents said it is not yet known whether pre-sale rights can be obtained.

[Person A / Real Estate Agent: It hasn't been decided yet, so it's just anticipation; getting apartment pre-sale rights is not confirmed.]

[Person B / Real Estate Agent: I think there is enough possibility that commercial property owners can get apartment pre-sale rights in the first place.]

What is the source of the 700 million won purchase fund?

In the property declaration details released last April as the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the son's property was about 66 million won, and in this declaration, it was at the level of 72 million won.

Regarding the omission of the commercial property ownership, nominee Kang's camp explained, "It was a simple mistake," adding, "We discovered it on the 4th, notified the National Assembly by phone, and additionally submitted related materials."

Regarding the source of funds, they additionally submitted to the National Assembly a promissory note stating that the son borrowed a total of 710 million won—210 million won interest-free from a person named Jeon and 500 million won at an annual interest rate of 4.6% from a person named Lee.

However, they did not disclose the relationship with the people who lent more than 700 million won to nominee Kang's son, who just got a job after finishing military service last year.

(Video Reported by Kim Hak-mo, Lee Seung-hwan, Lee Chan-su | Video Edited by Park Seon-su | Graphics by Cho Su-in)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.