"The Height of Shamelessness" Kim Kyung-yul Refutes Yoon Mi-hyang's Shelter High-Price Purchase Criticism

"Glad to Have Lived Without Knowing Such a Person"

Yoon Mi-hyang, elected member of the Democratic Party of Korea (former director of the Justice Memory Solidarity). Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] On the 18th, Kim Kyung-yul, head of Economic Democracy 21, criticized Yoon Mi-hyang, the elected member of the Democratic Party of Korea (former director of the Justice and Memory Foundation), for her explanation regarding the suspicion of an overpriced purchase of the Japanese military comfort women victims' shelter 'Anseong Healing Center,' calling it "endless lies."

On the 18th, Kim posted on his Facebook, saying, "I see the ultimate shamelessness," and claimed, "Even though it was revealed that Myeongseong Church funded the purchase of the shelter, she still lies."

He explained, "The endless lies continue, saying that the shelter could not be purchased for 1 billion won," adding, "A 58-pyeong apartment in Mok-dong costs 1.2 billion won, and there are numerous actual transaction prices of 700 to 800 million won for detached houses, row houses, and multi-family houses in the 70 to 100-pyeong range around Mangwon-dong. Country houses in Ilsan also range from 600 to 800 million won."

He continued, "She also clarified her position on using her personal account for the grandmother's funeral," and said, "Soon, there will likely be claims that I was the chief mourner and that there is no problem with me using the money that came into the chief mourner's account as I pleased."

He added, "Although I am also somewhat involved in civic movements, I consider it quite fortunate that I have lived without any acquaintance with such a person."

Earlier, when allegations arose that Yoon purchased the 'Anseong Healing Center' at an overpriced price, she explained, "Considering the intended use, I did not think it was expensive," and "I have never sought personal gain over the past 30 years."

On the 18th, Yoon appeared on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and explained, "We were looking for a building, some kind of newly built house, and before purchasing that house, we visited three places in the Anseong area," adding, "Even though the locations, conditions, and situations of those houses were worse than this one, their prices were not cheaper than this."

The Justice and Memory Foundation bought the shelter in 2013 for about 750 million won but signed a contract last month to sell it for 420 million won, more than 300 million won lower, raising suspicions.

Regarding the criticism that the shelter was used as a pension or similar, Yoon said, "It was used as a place for Justice and Memory Foundation's demand protests and solidarity activities, as well as workshops for activists from other organizations allied with the Justice and Memory Foundation," adding, "It was not used for anything else."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.