Nominee's Son Owning 700 Million Won Commercial Property Omitted... "Simple Mistake"

[Anchor]

It has been newly revealed that Defense Minister nominee Kang Shin-chul omitted an apartment shopping mall unit bought by his son for 700 million won while submitting confirmation hearing materials to the National Assembly. While the nominee's side claimed it was a simple mistake, questions are being raised over the source of funds for his son, who only 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 unit 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.

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

[Cheon Ha-ram / Reform Party Lawmaker: It was purchased only on June 30, right before the designation of the project implementer, as if targeting the succession of reconstruction union membership.]

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

[Person A / Real Estate Official: It hasn't been decided yet, so it's just such expectations, and (getting an apartment pre-sale ticket) is not confirmed.]

[Person B / Real Estate Official: (I think) there is definitely a sufficient possibility that (commercial property owners can) get an apartment pre-sale ticket.]

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

According to property declaration details disclosed last April as the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, his son's property was around 66 million won, and in this declaration, it was also at the level of 72 million won.

Regarding the omission of the commercial property ownership, nominee Kang's side 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 his son borrowed a total of 710 million won—210-odd 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 relationships with the people who lent more than 700 million won to nominee Kang's son, who had just started working after completing military service last year.

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