"Explained to Assembly, relevant agencies on Friday; additional documents submitted"
"Local tax payment records already attached to confirmation request — simple omission"
The preparation team for defense minister nominee Kang Shin-cheol pushed back Monday against allegations that his eldest son's real estate holdings were deliberately hidden from the asset disclosure list submitted to the National Assembly with his confirmation request, saying the omission was not intentional.
In a text notice issued Monday, the team said it discovered Friday that details related to the eldest son's real estate had been left out of the public asset disclosure list included in the confirmation request submitted to the Assembly. It said it immediately notified the Assembly and relevant agencies and submitted the necessary additional documents to complete the follow-up process.
The real estate in question was acquired after this year's regular asset filing. The team explained that while local tax payment records related to the property had already been attached to the confirmation request, the item was not separately added when compiling the asset disclosure list based on the regular filing.
The team described the omission as "a simple oversight during the compilation process" and said there was no intent to conceal the information.
The confirmation request submitted to the Assembly on Friday listed the total assets held by Kang, his spouse and their children at 1.13 billion won ($832,000). Of that, the eldest son — who completed his mandatory military service as an army first lieutenant — reported 32.84 million won in deposits and 39.15 million won in securities, among other holdings totaling 71.99 million won. The Bundang commercial property purchase that was belatedly added was not included in that reported figure.
Separately, Reform Party acting leader and floor leader Cheon Ha-ram on Sunday raised allegations that Kang had fraudulently obtained an apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul — now valued at around 2.2 billion won — through a special pre-sale program for displaced residents, by registering a false address during his military service to qualify as a displaced resident. Kang's camp denied the claim, saying there was "absolutely no deliberate false registration or illegality in the subscription process," but acknowledged that Kang "failed to carefully attend to administrative procedures while moving between duty stations."
Kang's confirmation hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16.
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