Lee Hyung-il lived in Gwacheon apartment for '4 months'; cites reconstruction demolition
Lee So-young's camp voices regret over 'gap investment' label for Seodaemun-gu apartment
Kang Sin-chul's family embroiled in widening controversy over displaced-resident housing allocation
Yong Hye-in skips work, ministry says 'unrelated to her status'; gender equality committee meeting canceled
Homes owned but not actually lived in by nominees for the second Lee Jae Myung Cabinet are coming under scrutiny during the vetting process. Critics say the practice contradicts the government's own policy stance that long-term ownership of a single home without residing in it also constitutes speculation, setting up the issue as a key flashpoint in the upcoming confirmation hearings.
The broader opposition bloc, having focused earlier on controversies surrounding Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won and Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hye-in, is now stepping up real estate scrutiny of three nominees who had drawn relatively less attention: Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance nominee Lee Hyung-il, Minister of National Defense nominee Kang Sin-chul and Minister of SMEs and Startups nominee Lee So-young.
Lee Hyung-il and Lee So-young face allegations that they are "non-resident single homeowners" — meaning the time they actually lived in their homes was far shorter than the time they held them. According to their confirmation hearing request documents, Lee Hyung-il and his spouse jointly own an apartment in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, worth around 1.32 billion won ($986,000), and hold a jeonse lease on an apartment in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, worth about 768 million won.
Of the 17 years Lee has owned the Gwacheon apartment, he reportedly lived there for only four months. Lee said earlier, "The Gwacheon apartment I own is currently being demolished as part of a reconstruction project," adding, "I will provide detailed answers during the confirmation hearing process."
Lee So-young lived for about four years in a Seodaemun-gu apartment in Seoul that she purchased in 2016, before moving in 2020 to a jeonse rental in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province — her National Assembly constituency. The Seodaemun-gu apartment, which she bought for 490 million won, is now reportedly worth around 1 billion won, prompting the opposition to argue that the purchase amounted to "gap investment."
Lee's camp rebuffed the claim Wednesday, saying, "We express deep regret that a purchase clearly made for actual residence has been described as a gap investment." The camp added that phrases such as "a 700 million won increase over 10 years" and "realization of paper profit" could mislead the public into mistaking changes in assessed value on the property disclosure form for actual trading gains.
Kang Sin-chul, meanwhile, is at the center of a widening controversy over his family's use of special housing allocations meant for displaced residents. Cheon Ha-ram, acting chief and floor leader of the Reform Party, alleged at a National Assembly press conference Thursday that "Kang's family systematically and deliberately carried out an operation to secure eviction-compensation certificates, with four family members obtaining four such certificates and each receiving a special allocation for an apartment in Seoul."
Cheon said an analysis of the confirmation hearing request documents showed that Kang registered his residence at an address other than where he actually lived in order to qualify for the special allocation. Kang, while serving in the military in Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon Province, in March 2008, had his resident registration at a military apartment there before reporting a move to a then-vacant house in Cheonwang-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul. Around the same time, Kang's father — who was living in Jeju — reportedly also registered a move to a nearby house in the same neighborhood.
About seven months after Kang and his father registered their move to Cheonwang-dong, the site was designated for the Seoul Southern Detention Center. Speaking to reporters after the press conference, Cheon said the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation confirmed that four members of Kang's family received eviction-compensation certificates, adding, "At minimum, Kang himself, his father and his older brother received special housing allocations through those certificates."
Cheon further criticized the family, saying, "At the time, Kang's family was actually living in Yangji Village in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and sending their children to school there — the houses in Cheonwang-dong were slated for demolition and were not livable." He added that the family had falsified their residence registration to Cheonwang-dong only during the period needed to obtain the eviction-compensation certificates, while actually living in Yangji Village in Bundang.
Kang's camp, however, maintains that "the special supply application was carried out normally, in accordance with the proper procedures."
Yong Hye-in, already embroiled in controversy over holding a proportional-representation Assembly seat alongside her ministerial post and allegations of turning her party into a personal vehicle, is also facing accusations of short-term property flipping. She reportedly bought a house in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, in April 2021 and resold it about 11 months later, realizing a gain from the price difference.
Meanwhile, Yong did not report to her hearing preparation office Thursday, about eight days after beginning the confirmation hearing process. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said the absence was "unrelated to Yong's status" as a nominee. Of the six ministerial nominees named so far, Yong is the only one whose confirmation hearing schedule remains unset. The Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party remain at odds, with the former pushing for the hearing on Sept. 18 and the latter on Sept. 21. A full meeting of the National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee scheduled for Thursday morning was canceled after negotiations over witnesses collapsed.
addressh@heraldcorp.com
mp1256@heraldcorp.com
![Popular mukbang influencer, 24, dies suddenly: 'ate 70 eggs at a time' [China Pick]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/08/news-p.v1.20260908.581b7189494849c3a9f1ade47eb6596d_T1.jpg?type=h&h=120)
