Open Democratic Party: "No New Details on Kim Eui-gyeom's Real Estate Allegations... No Separate Actions Taken"

Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Open Democratic Party, is holding a press conference on the 13th at the National Assembly Communication Hall regarding allegations of plagiarism in the thesis and theft of a business plan by Kim Gun-hee, wife of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The Open Democratic Party has stated that it will not take any separate action regarding the real estate speculation allegations against Representative Kim Ui-gyeom by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. They judged that there is no problematic content.

Kim Seong-hoe, spokesperson for the Open Democratic Party, said on the 24th, "Upon confirming the contents from the Commission, it is merely a repetition of existing claims without any new information," adding, "We cannot help but criticize the Commission's formal and irresponsible attitude of sending investigation results that demand an investigation just because there were previous allegations, without any additional circumstances or evidence."

He continued, "The Open Democratic Party verified Kim Ui-gyeom’s explanations related to this during the 2020 candidate selection process and judged there was no problem, thus selecting him as a candidate. Voters and party members were also aware of this result and chose candidate Kim Ui-gyeom," and stated, "The Open Democratic Party leadership will not take any separate measures against Representative Kim Ui-gyeom, considering that the Commission’s announcement contains no new information and that his explanations correspond to the facts."

In a statement released the previous day, Representative Kim said, "As a public official, it was foolish to purchase a house excessively, so I will accept criticism for a long time," but added, "However, I cannot help but refute the Commission’s judgment of ‘suspected use of insider information’ as it is very different from the facts."

He further explained, "The Heukseok Redevelopment District 9 received project implementation approval in June 2017, and Lotte Construction was selected as the contractor in May 2018. The date I purchased the real estate was two months later, in July," adding, "Using insider information means buying real estate with information unknown to anyone before the district designation or project implementation approval. The real estate agent who brokered the property testified in the Democratic Party’s investigation that ‘the property listed at 2.8 billion KRW was expensive at the time, so there were no buyers, and the heirs gradually lowered the price, resulting in a transaction at 2.57 billion KRW.’ It was a property anyone could buy."

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