Son, born in 1996, bought Yangji Village commercial unit for 700 million won

Nominee's camp says omission discovered Friday, corrective steps taken

Cheon Ha-ram, acting leader and floor leader of the Reform Party, holds a press conference at the National Assembly's media center Monday to raise allegations that defense minister nominee Kang Shin-cheol concealed his son's purchase of a commercial unit in Bundang's Yangji Village from his confirmation hearing documents. [Yonhap]
Cheon Ha-ram, acting leader and floor leader of the Reform Party, holds a press conference at the National Assembly's media center Monday to raise allegations that defense minister nominee Kang Shin-cheol concealed his son's purchase of a commercial unit in Bundang's Yangji Village from his confirmation hearing documents. [Yonhap]

Cheon Ha-ram, acting leader of the Reform Party, alleged Monday that defense minister nominee Kang Shin-cheol concealed his son's real estate holdings from his confirmation hearing documents.

Speaking at a press conference at the National Assembly, Cheon said the nominee's disclosure listed "no real estate holdings whatsoever" for his son — yet the son in fact owned a commercial unit in Bundang's Yangji Village, the same complex where President Lee Jae Myung holds property.

According to the property registry for the lot, Kang's son purchased the Yangji Village commercial unit on June 30 for 700 million won ($517,000).

"The nominee and the government deceived the people and the National Assembly by concealing assets worth 700 million won," Cheon said. He added that Yangji Village was, until recently, home to a property owned by President Lee, and that Lee had set up a mortgage on the complex as late as July — demanding a remaining payment of 1.7 billion won from the buyer, reportedly out of concern that reconstruction cooperative membership rights might not transfer.

Cheon said experts believe a commercial unit of that size could yield a full apartment unit if the complex undergoes reconstruction. "Everyone knows that once it is rebuilt, Yangji Village will easily clear 3 billion to 4 billion won," he said.

He also pointed to the nominee's official asset disclosure published in the government gazette in April, when Kang was appointed ambassador to Saudi Arabia, saying it showed the son held not only less than 700 million won but less than 70 million won. "The son left the military as an ROTC officer in June last year and has worked at a mid-sized company for barely a year," Cheon said. "How could a son born in 1996, who would struggle to come up with tens of millions of won just to cover acquisition taxes, have raised 700 million won to buy a commercial unit?"

Cheon further alleged that the purchase on June 30 — just before the designation of a project implementer — appeared timed to secure reconstruction cooperative membership. "There is no explanation for this unless a parent or grandparent secretly provided the funds as a gift," he said.

"Had we not examined the Kang family's tax payment records in detail, the son's ownership of the Yangji Village property would have gone unnoticed," Cheon said, adding that such circumstances made the confirmation hearing pointless.

Meanwhile, Kang's camp said the omission was discovered Friday, when staff found that the son's real estate details had been left out of the public asset disclosure list for the official candidate. "We immediately explained the relevant facts to the National Assembly and related agencies and completed follow-up measures, including submitting the necessary additional documents," the camp said.


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