'Seongnam Mayoral Cutoff' Kim Jiho Calls for Verification of Kim Byungwook's Real Estate Gift

Kim Jiho, Democratic Party's Preliminary Candidate for Seongnam Mayor, Holds Press Conference
Questions Raised Over Kim Byungwook's Son Purchasing a 2.8 Billion Won Apartment After Uncontested Nomination
"How Can Someone in Their Thirties Afford a 2.8 Billion Won Gangnam Apartment?"
Suspicions Grow Over "Dad's Chance"

Kim Jiho, a preliminary candidate for mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, from the Democratic Party, on March 22 raised the need to verify the source of real estate funds for the eldest son of candidate Kim Byungwook (former Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Blue House), who was nominated without competition. He urged the party to "publicly disclose the standards and the entire process of candidate review with transparency, apply the same criteria to all candidates, and ensure that every candidate is guaranteed a fair opportunity to participate in the primary according to fair procedures."

Kim Jiho, a preliminary candidate for mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province from the Democratic Party of Korea, held a press conference on the 22nd in front of the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. He urged the party to verify the funds used by the eldest son of candidate Kim Byungwook, who was nominated without competition, for purchasing an apartment and to provide a fair opportunity for the primaries. Photo from Kim Jiho's Facebook page

At a press conference held in front of the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Kim Jiho stated, "Less than half a day after the announcement of Kim Byungwook's uncontested nomination, the media reported that Kim Byungwook's son in his thirties had purchased an apartment in Gangnam for 2.8 billion won, allegedly through so-called 'dad's chance,' and suspicions were raised that the source of the funds was not clearly explained."

Kim Jiho argued that the party must verify, at the party level, the source of the 1.2 billion won used by Kim Byungwook's eldest son, who purchased the apartment at age 30, the interest payment records for the approximately 700 million won that Kim Byungwook lent to his son, the source of funds for the interest and principal payments on the son's 1 billion won bank loan, and the source of funds for the son's overseas education expenses.

Furthermore, Kim Jiho insisted that the background behind the increase in the cash holdings of Kim Byungwook's spouse, a full-time homemaker, from 460 million won as of the 2016 asset registration to 3.11 billion won in 2026 should also be subject to verification.

Kim Jiho emphasized, "Morality and fairness are fundamental to the Democratic Party's candidate selection," adding, "If these standards collapse, public trust and the legitimacy of the election will collapse as well." He also stated, "For the Democratic Party to stand as a proud party before the public, it must provide a clear answer to this issue now."

Meanwhile, on March 21, candidate Kim Byungwook wrote on his Facebook page that "JTBC's main point is that my son purchased a single apartment for 2.8 billion won in September 2024, and, aside from his own assets of 240 million won at the time, the 690 million won he borrowed with a notarized loan document, and a 1 billion won bank mortgage loan, the remaining 1.2 billion won in purchase funds has not been clearly explained."

He further explained, "The 1.2 billion won difference was accumulated through a 250 million won jeonse deposit in early 2020 (in the son's name alone), a 750 million won jeonse deposit in January 2021 (jointly before marriage), and a 1.2 billion won jeonse deposit in December 2022 (jointly as a married couple)."

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