Prime ministerial nominee Han Sung-sook delivers her opening remarks at her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday. [Lee Sang-seop]
Prime ministerial nominee Han Sung-sook delivers her opening remarks at her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday. [Lee Sang-seop]

Prime ministerial nominee Han Sung-sook said Thursday she was "sorry" for having owned multiple homes.

At her National Assembly confirmation hearing, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Gyun-taek asked whether the real estate she had previously owned appeared to have been purchased for speculative purposes. "I think so myself, but in many respects I feel sorry about the multiple-home aspect," Han said.

Han once held as many as four properties, including an officetel, before selling three in succession to become a single-home owner. She said she decided to move in a direction consistent with government policy once she became a public official.

However, she said the only property she had bought expecting reasonable returns was one officetel, adding that "the rest had their purposes."

When People Power Party lawmaker Jo Jeong-hun asked whether she would return to real estate investment after leaving the prime minister's post and returning to the private sector, Han said she would not.

Han also addressed an administrative order she received to restore her farmland in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province to its original state after an illegal structure was found on the property, saying she "did not know" about it.

The People Power Party claimed Yangpyeong-gun had sent a prior notice of the administrative action, but Han said she never received it.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com