Kwon Chil-seung on Allegations of Fictitious Residence Registration: "I Will Not Make Excuses"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Kwon Chil-seung, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups, said regarding the 'false address registration' allegations, "I will not make excuses" and "I think it was wrong."

Minister of SMEs and Startups nominee Kwon Chil-seung is attending the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 3rd, drinking water as if feeling anxious. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 3rd, Kwon responded to the allegations related to false address registration at the confirmation hearing held by the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, and SMEs Committee.

Kwon said, "I was living in Goyang City, but a month before the election, my nomination was confirmed, so I moved to Hwaseong. At that time, I thought changing my address was a duty to the voters. It was a thoughtless decision."

However, he emphasized that it was different from reasons such as real estate speculation.

Kwon stated, "I had no place to register my address, so I did so. If it is called false address registration in the dictionary sense, I will not make excuses." However, he added, "It is completely unrelated to transferring children’s schools or real estate speculation," and "It was for a very short period."

In response, Koo Ja-geun, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out it was a form of remote voting.

That morning, Assemblyman Kwon Myung-ho also requested additional documentation regarding the false address registration.

Assemblyman Kwon mentioned, "The nominee moved to Jugong Apartment in Seongsa-dong, Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province on March 8, 1995, then after 1 year and 5 months, on August 5, 1996, moved to Dalbit Village in Hwajeong-dong, Deogyang-gu. Two weeks later, on August 19, he moved to Okbit Village in Hwajeong-gu, and 44 days later, on October 2, he moved back to Dalbit Village."

He continued, "A month before the 2010 local elections, on May 6, 2010, he moved from Goyang City to Hwaseong City, and seven months later, moved back to the apartment in Goyang City where he had lived." He pointed out, "While South Korea guarantees freedom of residence relocation, many citizens are curious about such frequent moves and address changes by a public official."

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