Democratic Party says nominee is selling properties at a loss to comply with government housing policy

Prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook arrives at her confirmation hearing preparation office at the Financial Supervisory Service Training Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Yonhap]
Prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook arrives at her confirmation hearing preparation office at the Financial Supervisory Service Training Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Yonhap]

Ruling and opposition parties traded sharp accusations Saturday over an illegal building extension tied to prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook's real estate holdings.

The opposition criticized Han for demolishing the unauthorized extension on her building only after her nomination, while the ruling party fired back that she is selling her properties below market price and urged critics to "stop nitpicking."

Park Sung-hoon, chief spokesperson of the People Power Party, said in a statement Saturday that Han had been aware of the illegal extension on her Jongno-gu building for years but failed to correct it. "At last year's confirmation hearing for minister of SMEs and Startups, she promised to act swiftly — but afterward she simply paid off correction orders and compulsory enforcement fines as if laughing them off," he said.

Park added that Han moved to demolish the extension only after being named prime minister nominee. "This is not the conduct of a responsible public official — it is a hasty, face-saving measure calibrated to public optics," he said.

He also noted that Han owns a total of four homes — three in Seoul and one in Gyeonggi Province — and said she recently sold an apartment in Jamsil at a gain of nearly 3 billion won (approximately $1,960,000).

Kang Jun-hyeon, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, pushed back in a separate statement, saying Han had "expressed remorse before the public over the personal issues raised against her, provided a full account of the circumstances, and is actively taking appropriate measures." He urged the People Power Party to stop the "nitpicking."

Kang said Han sold the Jamsil apartment — where her mother and siblings had been living — at roughly 400 million won below the previous transaction price. He added that she is also moving to sell her homes in Gangnam and Yangpyeong at discounts of approximately 600 million won and 300 million won, respectively.

"It is the nominee's intention to accept a financial loss in order to resolve her multi-home ownership and align with the government's real estate stabilization policy," Kang said. He accused the People Power Party of "repeatedly fixating on selective details from the past while ignoring the nominee's essential qualities."

The opposition has been escalating its offensive ahead of the confirmation hearing, centering its attacks on Han's ownership of multiple properties.

People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik also held a press briefing Friday, describing Han as "not just a multi-home owner but a super multi-home owner — holding three homes in Seoul, one in Gyeonggi Province, and a building worth approximately 9.7 billion won."

Jeong said that while Han cleared her confirmation hearing for minister of SMEs and Startups last year, "circumstances have changed — because President Lee compared multi-home owners to demons and treated them like criminals." He called on the president to apologize and revise his position, warning that "if the strict standard is not applied to the prime minister, official discipline will collapse and this government's real estate policy will lose all credibility."


balme@heraldcorp.com