Acting representative and floor leader of the New Reform Party, Chun Haram, claimed on the 7th that Minister of National Defense candidate Kang Shin-cheol concealed the details of his son's ownership of a commercial building in Yangji Village, Bundang, where President Lee Jae-myung's home was located.
When Candidate Kang's side countered that it was an omission, not a cover-up, and that the data was submitted immediately after discovery, Acting President Cheon continued the fight by refuting that the omission was repeated for the purpose of concealment and that the data was submitted only after the press conference.
Acting President Cheon held a press conference at the National Assembly on this day and pointed out, "If you look at the property details submitted by the candidate, you can see the real estate properties of the candidate and his eldest daughter. There is no information about his son's real estate ownership at all. However, Candidate Kang's son owned the same commercial building in Bundang Yangji Village as President Lee."
He criticized, "I removed a copy of the real estate register for the relevant parcel. It shows that the candidate's son purchased a commercial building in Yangji Village, Bundang, for 700 million won on June 30 of this year," adding, "The candidate and the government deceived the public and the National Assembly and concealed assets worth 700 million won."
At the same time, he asked, "It has only been a year since the candidate's son retired as a school district officer in June of last year and got a job at a mid-sized company. How can a son born in 1996, who has difficulty even raising the money to pay tens of millions of won in acquisition taxes, raise funds worth 700 million won to purchase a commercial building?"
He added, “Candidate Kang’s son didn’t have many assets, but he seems to have received the gift at the perfect timing to receive the ticket.”
Accordingly, Candidate Kang's side explained, "On September 4, we discovered that the eldest son's real estate details were omitted from the public list of public office candidates' property reports in the personnel hearing request submitted to the National Assembly. We immediately explained the relevant facts to the National Assembly and related organizations and completed follow-up measures, including submitting additional necessary data."
He also added, “The relevant real estate details were added after the regular property report in 2026, and the related local tax payment details were already attached to the personnel hearing request, but we confirmed that they were not added in the process of compiling the list based on the regular property report details.”
However, Acting President Cheon responded to Candidate Kang's explanation by saying, "My son's purchase of a commercial building in Yangji Village on June 30th of this year was concealed three times in the official personnel hearing request," and added, "The three times concealment was not an omission or mistake, but a deliberate and deliberate concealment."
He then pointed out, "When I pointed this out at an emergency press conference, only then did he submit a revised list including the Bundang Yangji Village shopping center and inter-signor debts for borrowing 715 million won. At the same time, he even gave a false explanation."
Candidate Kang's side then refuted again, saying, "The eldest son's purchase of a commercial property in Bundang was a normal transaction that complied with all legal procedures and tax standards. We discovered that the real estate details were missing on the 4th and immediately notified the Ministry of Personnel Management and Innovation and the National Assembly Ophthalmology Department by phone. Additional related data were submitted over the weekend, and the submission was completed to the National Assembly Ophthalmology Department around 14:24 today."
