Yoo Sang-beom "Park Beom-gye, Became a Member of the National Assembly with 6,000 Pyeong of Forest Land and Failed to Report"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Park Beom-gye, the nominee for Minister of Justice, has been criticized for omitting real estate exceeding 6,000 pyeong from his public official asset declaration.

According to data obtained on the 4th by Yoo Sang-beom, a member of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the People Power Party, Park owns half of a 42,476㎡ forest land (approximately 6,424 pyeong) in Yakmok-ri, Simcheon-myeon, Yeongdong-gun, Chungbuk, but did not report it.

The forest land registered under Park’s name when he was 7 years old is a family ancestral burial ground. When Park was appointed as the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House under Roh Moo-hyun in August 2003, he declared the land as his property. However, after winning the 19th general election in 2012 and serving as a three-term lawmaker, the property was omitted from his asset registration list.

Rep. Yoo claimed, "The fact that the forest land, which had already been registered as an asset, was continuously omitted from declarations after 2012 strongly suggests intentionality." He added, "Considering that lawmakers Jo Su-jin and Kim Hong-gul are currently indicted or on trial for asset omission charges, although the statute of limitations for Park’s case expired last October making prosecution impossible, there remains a serious moral flaw."

Park’s confirmation hearing preparation team stated, "The forest land was included in the asset declaration when directly reported in 2003. It was omitted during the asset declaration process handled by the staff after his election as a lawmaker." They further explained that Park’s share is currently valued at only 20.91 million KRW based on the official land price (1,055 KRW per 1㎡), indicating low economic value and no reason for intentional omission.

The preparation team added, "Since the land is an ancestral burial ground passed down from the candidate’s great-grandfather to his parents, and the share was acquired when he was 7 years old, it was not perceived as a property that could be disposed of, which caused this issue." They concluded, "Regardless of the circumstances, the candidate considers it his own oversight."

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