Yoon Seok-yeol's Side: "Yangpyeong Land Nominee Ownership Allegation? Already Clarified Issue"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] On the 12th, Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, denied allegations that his wife Kim Geon-hee and mother-in-law Choi Eun-soon managed five real estate plots in Byeongsan-ri, Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province under borrowed names, stating that they are "family burial grounds." Yoon's camp explained that this issue had already been addressed during the confirmation hearing for the Prosecutor General appointment.

Lee Yang-su, chief spokesperson of the People Power Party Central Election Committee, stated in a briefing material on the same day, "The campaign committee of Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, raised allegations of 'borrowed name ownership of Yangpyeong land' by Yoon Seok-yeol's in-laws, but this is completely untrue," and added, "We will consider appropriate measures."

Lee claimed, "The land in question is a 'seonsan' (family burial ground) where the ancestral graves and columbarium of Choi Eun-soon's husband's family are located, and it is not for real estate investment purposes at all." The Choi family owns a seonsan of about 7,500 pyeong, most of which was inherited. The approximately 100-pyeong land owned by Choi's elder brother is also an access road to the seonsan. "We asked the elder brother, who was farming in Yangpyeong County, to purchase it, and it was bought with his money," he explained. Similarly, "An acquaintance purchased about 270 pyeong nearby to build a warehouse and actually constructed and used the warehouse," clarifying that "this is not borrowed-name property."

Regarding the fact that the 370-pyeong land was included as collateral in the loan secured against the seonsan, it was explained, "It is only about 5% of the entire site, and since the market value at the time was not high, we simply asked relatives and acquaintances to provide it as collateral together."

Furthermore, it was explained that the allegations were raised during the Prosecutor General confirmation hearing but were not problematic. The issue occurred before Yoon's marriage, and considering the transaction details, it is difficult to view it as borrowed-name property.

Earlier, the Democratic Party's Election Countermeasure Committee's Task Force (TF) on current issues raised suspicions of borrowed-name management based on facts such as the setting of provisional registrations on two plots registered under a cousin's name from 2008 to 2010, and Choi securing loans totaling 2,560.5 million KRW using these lands as collateral. Kim Byung-gi, head of the TF, said, "Hiding and managing real estate under the names of relatives and business partners is a tactic of the Choi Eun-soon family's 'family business,'" and added, "It is suspected that Yoon was aware of the possibility of violating the Real Name Real Estate Act." He also urged, "Yoon should persuade his mother-in-law and wife to settle other borrowed-name properties and voluntarily report to investigative agencies."

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