Only "Didn't Know" to 'Son's 900 Million Won' Controversy... Ruling Party Adopts Confirmation Hearing Report

[Anchor]

The attitude and responses of Defense Minister nominee Kang Shin-chul during his confirmation hearing are drawing controversy. During the hearing on Wednesday (September 16), Nominee Kang insisted that receiving a special housing allocation for displaced residents should not be branded as real estate speculation, and testified that he did not know his son had purchased a commercial property worth 700 million won because he was in the midst of wartime.

Reporter Park Chan-beom reports.

[Reporter]

The confirmation hearing for Defense Minister nominee Kang Shin-chul ended at around 11:10 p.m. Wednesday night.

Nominee Kang, who faces suspicions of registering a false address in 2008 to qualify for a "special supply for displaced residents" granted to a house he owned in Cheonwang-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul, strongly argued near the end of the hearing:

[Kang Shin-chul, Defense Minister nominee (Wednesday): In terms of market price, it was a loss so severe that it is truly hard to put into words.]

His argument was that the compensation was limited to only one-sixth of the market price in Cheonwang-dong; however, in exchange for the expropriation of his home in Cheonwang-dong, he acquired an apartment in Umyeon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, through the special supply for displaced residents.

[Cheon Ha-ram, Reform Party lawmaker (Wednesday): By receiving the presale for displaced residents, hasn't the home you acquired for 520 million won (in presale price) now reached 2.2 billion won?]

Nominee Kang pushed back, calling it a "speculator frame."

[Kang Shin-chul, Defense Minister nominee (Wednesday): You have placed a frame on us and made all of us look like real estate speculators, haven't you?]

Nominee Kang also stated that he was unaware that his son had purchased a commercial property in June by borrowing around 700 million won from his aunt and uncle, citing "war" as the reason.

[Seong Il-jong, People Power Party lawmaker (Wednesday): When 700 million won was lent, did the aunt or your children not mention it at all?]

[Kang Shin-chul, Defense Minister nominee (Wednesday): Because I was in a wartime situation...]

In effect, he claimed that he did not know because he was serving as ambassador to Saudi Arabia, an adjacent country to Iran, during the U.S.–Iran war.

Both his claim of "not knowing" that his sister-in-law and her husband lent 700 million won to his son, and his explanation that omitting his son's commercial property from the hearing submission documents was "his own oversight on his return journey," are drawing mounting criticism.

[Lim Jong-deuk, People Power Party lawmaker (Wednesday): If vetting regarding your son is conducted, the 700 million won commercial property purchase is bound to surface. Did you not receive a call (from the presidential office)?]

Tensions ran high during exchanges between ruling and opposition lawmakers.

[Park Sun-won, Democratic Party lawmaker (Wednesday): (Reform Party lawmaker Cheon Ha-ram) seems to lack social experience and not understand, so you should just say, "This seems to be a case I am not familiar with."]

[Cheon Ha-ram, Reform Party lawmaker (Wednesday): I have had more than enough social experience as well. I expect an apology.]

Yesterday (September 17), just one day after the confirmation hearing concluded, the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, chaired by a ruling party lawmaker, unilaterally adopted the confirmation hearing report.

While the ruling party called him "the right person for defense reform," the opposition party boycotted the vote and walked out, labeling him "a failing grade of no principles and incompetence."

Video by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Won Hyeong-hee
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.