Park Beom-gye on 'Property Report Omission' Allegation: "Land Share Acquired at Age 7... Staff Omitted It"

Yoo Sang-beom and Park Beom-gye Raise Allegations of Intentional Report Omission After Becoming Members of the National Assembly
Park Beom-gye: "Regardless of Circumstances, It Is My Fault"

On the 31st of last month, Park Beom-gye, who was nominated as the Minister of Justice, responded to questions from the press while on his way to the personnel hearing preparation office set up at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 4th, Park Beom-gye, the nominee for Minister of Justice, addressed allegations that he omitted approximately 6,000 pyeong of land in his public official asset declaration after being elected as a member of the National Assembly, stating, "It was omitted during the asset declaration process by my staff."

According to materials obtained by Yoo Sang-beom, a member of the People Power Party, Park has owned half the share (about 6,424 pyeong) of a forest land measuring 42,476㎡ in Yakmok-ri, Simcheon-myeon, Yeongdong-gun, Chungbuk, since he was seven years old in 1970. However, after being elected in the 19th general election in 2012 and serving as a three-term National Assembly member, he did not declare this land as part of his assets.

However, it was confirmed that Park included this land in his asset declaration when he served as the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House during the Roh Moo-hyun administration in 2003, raising suspicions that he deliberately omitted it from his asset declaration for eight years after being elected as a National Assembly member.

Nonetheless, criminal punishment is impossible as the statute of limitations for offenses such as false statement under the Public Official Election Act has already expired.

Rep. Yoo pointed out, "There is strong intentionality in continuously omitting the forest land that was already registered as an asset after 2012," adding, "Even though punishment is impossible due to the statute of limitations, it cannot escape moral criticism."

Meanwhile, Park, through the "Ministerial Candidate Hearing Preparation Team," stated on the same day, "The share of the forest land in Yeongdong-gun was omitted by my staff during the asset declaration process when I was first elected as a National Assembly member in 2012, but during the asset verification process for the ministerial candidate screening, I became aware that the asset registration had been omitted."

However, regarding the accusation that he deliberately omitted the asset declaration, Park strongly denied it, saying, "When I was appointed as the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House in 2003, I personally included the land in my asset list. Moreover, based on the current publicly announced land price, the total value is 20.91 million KRW (1,055 KRW per 1㎡, half share of 42,476㎡), so there is absolutely no reason to deliberately omit it."

Nonetheless, Park admitted his fault, stating, "The forest land is a family burial ground from my great-grandfather to my parents, with several Park clan ancestral graves. Since the half share was acquired when I was seven years old, I did not perceive it as an asset that could be disposed of in daily life, which caused this issue. Regardless of the circumstances, I consider it my negligence."

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