"Another Lawless Minister?" Jo Guk, Chu Mi-ae, Park Beom-gye... Series of Legal Allegations Against Blue House's Nominees for Minister of Justice

Park Beom-gye, Suspected of Omitting 6,000-Pyeong Land and Wife's Assets
All Three Prosecutors-General Appointed by the Blue House Entangled in Various Allegations
Opposition Criticizes, "After the Stubborn Former Minister, Are They Appointing Another 'Lawless Minister'?"

Minister of Justice nominee Park Beom-gye./Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] As Park Beom-gye, the nominee for Minister of Justice, is embroiled in allegations of intentional property omission, criticism is emerging in the political sphere that all former Ministers of Justice appointed by the Blue House have been involved in legal violation suspicions. Park is also a defendant currently undergoing a first trial for the 'National Assembly Fast-Track Clash Incident' in 2019.

The Minister of Justice, who should be responsible for establishing legal order and upholding justice, is instead entangled in various illegal allegations, prompting sarcastic criticism calling him the 'Lawless (無法) Minister.'

According to Yoo Sang-beom, a member of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the People Power Party, Park acquired half the share (approximately 6,424 pyeong) of a 42,476㎡ forest land located at San 25-2, Yakmok-ri, Simcheon-myeon, Yeongdong-gun, Chungbuk, in June 1970.

When Park was appointed as the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs 2 at the Blue House under the Participatory Government in August 2003, he included this land in his public official property declaration. However, it was revealed that he did not report this property during his three terms as a National Assembly member after winning the 19th general election in 2012.

Additionally, it was found that in March 2019, Park omitted from his property disclosure a land and building in Miryang-si, Gyeongnam, worth about 200 million KRW, which his wife had received as a gift in November 2018.

Representative Yoo pointed out, "The fact that the forest land, which had already been registered, was continuously omitted from declarations after 2012 indicates clear intentionality. Considering that Representatives Jo Su-jin and Kim Hong-gul are currently indicted or on trial for property omission charges, although the statute of limitations for Park's case expired in October last year making punishment impossible, there is a serious moral flaw."

Nominee for Minister of Justice Park Beop-gye./Photo by Yonhap News

As a result, criticism is mounting that every Minister of Justice appointed or nominated by the Blue House has been embroiled in various controversies.

Previously, former Minister Cho resigned amid allegations of his children's admission fraud and private equity fund investment suspicions, and Minister Chu is also under investigation by prosecutors over allegations including his son's failure to return from military leave.

The opposition strongly criticized the Blue House's nomination of Park as a 'Lawless (無法) Minister appointment.'

Yoon Hee-seok, spokesperson for the People Power Party, released a statement on the 4th saying, "This land was included in the property declaration when he was a Blue House secretary in 2003. Could he really not have known?" He added, "The public does not want another 'problematic minister.'"

He continued, "We endured a stubborn Minister of Justice who acted with arbitrariness and arrogance for a year. There was also a predecessor who shook the country with all kinds of suspicions. Now, when we are more than ever hoping for a qualified and excellent Minister of Justice, can the public readily accept Park Beom-gye, a criminal defendant shrouded in allegations, as Minister of Justice?"

Choi Hyung-doo, the party's floor spokesperson, also released a statement last month saying, "Nominating a person who has been selectively defining justice and dividing people as Minister of Justice is tantamount to appointing a Lawless (無法) Minister again," and criticized, "Is the Moon Jae-in administration not satisfied with Cho Kuk and Chu Mi-ae, who split South Korea and divided public opinion?"

Representative Kwon Seong-dong posted on his Facebook last month, "Park Beom-gye is currently on trial for the Fast-Track incident, yet President Moon Jae-in nominated a criminal defendant as Minister of Justice. As far as I remember, no previous president has appointed a criminal defendant as a minister," he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Park has denied intentionally omitting property.

On the 4th, Park's side released a statement saying, "During the property verification process for the ministerial candidate screening, it was recognized that some property registrations had been omitted. When the candidate personally declared property upon appointment as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs 2 at the Blue House in 2003, the property was included in the list, and given the current official land price totaling 20.91 million KRW, there is absolutely no reason to intentionally omit this declaration," he explained.

Regarding the omission of his wife's property, they said, "At the time of the property change declaration in early 2019, we were unaware of the gift, but upon learning in early 2020, we corrected and reported it ourselves. Regardless of the circumstances, we consider it a personal oversight," they stated.