Sang-do Kwak in Heated Debate with Choo Mi-ae and Jeong Se-gyun... Raises Suspicion of "Real Estate Speculation by President Moon's Brother-in-law"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hye-min] On the 24th, Rep. Kwak Sang-do of the United Future Party and Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae clashed during the National Assembly's government questioning session. The dispute centered on the veracity of remarks about the 'Gangnam building' made by Jung Kyung-shim, a professor at Dongyang University and wife of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. Rep. Kwak raised suspicions that a person presumed to be President Moon Jae-in's brother-in-law profited from real estate speculation. During this process, he also engaged in a heated exchange with Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun.

At the last government questioning session of the July extraordinary National Assembly held that afternoon, tensions between Rep. Kwak and Minister Choo were high from the start.

Rep. Kwak questioned Minister Choo about allegations of external pressure related to Aegis Asset Management's apartment sale controversy. Aegis Asset Management announced plans to purchase one apartment building in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, for 41 billion KRW on the 19th of last month, remodel it, and supply new housing. The next day, Minister Choo posted a statement saying, "If the Minister of Justice remains silent while the real estate market operates like a gambling table, it would be a dereliction of duty." Subsequently, Aegis Asset Management withdrew the project.

Regarding this, Rep. Kwak asked, "Do you consider the asset management company's real estate purchase as speculation?" Minister Choo replied, "I cannot answer at this time." When Rep. Kwak pressed again on whether it was speculation, Minister Choo responded, "If you connect it to a specific case, I am not in a position to do so. The Minister of Justice cannot point out specific cases like an ordinary person."

Their exchange grew more heated as they questioned each other. When Rep. Kwak indirectly referred to friction with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl by asking, "Will you only give general instructions in the future?" Minister Choo flushed and raised her voice, saying, "Depending on the situation, if neutrality is compromised, specific instructions can also be given."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The clash exploded as the questioning turned to Professor Jung Kyung-shim. Rep. Kwak asked, "What do you think about Professor Jung, who said, 'My goal is to buy a building in Gangnam'?" Minister Choo retorted, "Haven't you seen news saying she never said that? Didn't you say there are many fake news reports? Are you a blind believer in the media?" In response, Rep. Kwak expressed displeasure, saying, "Should we doubt everything the President says?" Minister Choo fired back, "You're not asking questions just to pick a fight with me, are you?"

As voices rose, Rep. Kwak told Minister Choo to "leave," but she did not exit and stood her ground. As protests from ruling and opposition party members grew louder, Deputy Speaker Kim Sang-hee intervened, saying, "The questioning member and the minister answering seem to be too heated, even excessive, from the public's perspective. I ask both the member and the minister to engage seriously so that the public can feel that the questions and answers about state affairs are being conducted thoroughly."

Rep. Kwak then engaged in a heated exchange with Prime Minister Chung over Greenbelt real estate speculation.

Rep. Kwak pointed out that a construction company that purchased Greenbelt land in Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, for 25 billion KRW in September last year received the '9th National Recommendation Award' presidential citation from Prime Minister Chung on the 15th, following awards such as the 2017 Proud Korean Award and the 2018 Small and Medium Enterprise of the Year Award. He questioned, "Isn't there suspicion that they obtained advance information about the Greenbelt release? Are you not going to investigate?"

Prime Minister Chung replied, "I did not select individual awardees nor have I met them individually. Discussions about the Greenbelt issue are recent, so there seems to be no connection. It is not appropriate to investigate without special clues." When Rep. Kwak dismissed this by saying, "They bought land close to speculation, but the Prime Minister says there is no need to investigate speculation," Prime Minister Chung responded, "Unless a criminal act is established or there is sufficient evidence to justify an investigation for public interest, innocent companies or individuals are not investigated."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The tension peaked when Rep. Kwak presented another case of receiving about 5.8 billion KRW in land compensation after the Greenbelt release in Seongnam City.

Rep. Kwak asked Prime Minister Chung, "This person bought development-restricted land, held it, then received land compensation after the Greenbelt was lifted. Is this real estate speculation?" Prime Minister Chung answered, "I am not in a position to judge whether it is real estate speculation."

When Rep. Kwak again asked him to comment on speculation from the perspective of public common sense, Prime Minister Chung snapped, "How can I make a judgment here on a matter I have never seen or heard of before?" He added sharply, "Even if I judged, would it be appropriate for the Prime Minister to act recklessly?" and "I do not see any value in verifying this."

Rep. Kwak then pressed, "Who is the person who profited from the Greenbelt price difference? It is reported as Mr. Kim, presumed to be President Moon Jae-in's brother-in-law." Prime Minister Chung paused before saying, "Should I answer this? I do not see any value in answering."

When Rep. Kwak said, "You answered the public like that," Prime Minister Chung snapped back, "This is a place to discuss state affairs. The public knows well how the honorable Rep. Kwak has conducted his legislative activities." Rep. Kwak did not back down, saying, "We are discussing real estate policy. The public knows better how the Prime Minister has acted than I do."

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