[Anchor]

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

Here is a report by reporter Go Jeong-hyeon.

[Reporter]

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

Nominee Kang Shin-chul's son, born in 1996, purchased a 13-square-meter section of this commercial building on June 30.

The purchase price is 700 million won.

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

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

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

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

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

[Person B / Real Estate Agent: I think there is plenty of possibility that (commercial building 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 in April as the Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the son's assets were about 66 million won, and in this declaration as well, they were at the level of 72 million won.

Regarding the omission of the commercial building 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 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 completing his military service last year.

(Camera: Kim Hak-mo, Lee Seung-hwan, Lee Chan-su | Video Editing: Park Sun-su | Design: Cho Su-in)