[Anchor]

Allegations have been raised that Minister of National Defense nominee Kang Shin-chul made a false residential transfer to receive a "special housing allocation for displaced residents." The nominee's side explained, "It is true that his address did not match due to moving around for duty as a military officer, but it was not an illegal subscription."

Reporter Choi Jae-yeong has the details.

[Reporter]

This is an apartment complex located in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Defense Minister nominee Kang Shin-chul acquired an 84-square-meter apartment in this complex in 2012 through a "special housing allocation for displaced residents."

Previously, in 1997, nominee Kang received a detached house in Guro-gu, Seoul, as a gift from his father. In 2008, the Guro-gu Office purchased this house as compensation for the relocation of the Seoul Southern Detention Center. As the owner of a demolished home, nominee Kang became eligible for the "Seoul displaced resident special housing allocation," which is granted to residents registered in Seoul.

However, Reform Party lawmaker HARAM raised suspicions today (the 6th) regarding nominee Kang's alleged "false residency transfer."

In 2007, when he was a lieutenant colonel, nominee Kang was assigned to a military unit in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, and initially transferred his residency to military housing in that area. In March 2008, he registered his address back at the gifted house in Guro, Seoul, maintaining the address for one year and two months, before transferring it back to the Hwacheon military housing in May 2009.

The criticism is that this was a false residency transfer to acquire the displaced resident qualification during the housing compensation purchase by the Guro-gu Office in 2008.

[HARAM / Reform Party Lawmaker: At the time, the subscription price was 520 million won, but the current market price reaches a staggering 2.2 billion won.]

Nominee Kang's side stated that it was a oversight not to match his actual place of residence with his resident registration address during the process of moving duty stations due to the characteristics of being a military officer, but explained, "In 2008, nominee Kang had to serve at a frontline post, which was why he had to move out of the official quarters."

They also emphasized, "Under the Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land, etc. for Public Works Projects, in cases of official military duty, individuals could acquire 'displaced resident qualifications' even if they did not actually reside there, as long as they explained the circumstances," adding that there was no intent to commit false residency transfer or any illegality in the subscription process.

(Video reporting: Kim Heung-ki, Video editing: Kim Jin-won, Design: Lee Jong-jung, Hwang Se-yeon)