"Regardless of the reason, sincerely sorry for causing concern to the people"
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Gang-wook] Nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Noh Hyung-wook (photo), acknowledged that there was a fact of address relocation due to reasons such as children's education and housing disposal amid allegations of false address registration.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 21st, nominee Noh stated, "I am aware that there was inappropriate address relocation around the time of my dispatch to the Virginia state government education office in the United States (June 2001 to December 2002) while working at the Planning and Budget Office, due to reasons such as children's education and housing disposal."
He explained the reason for the address relocation, saying, "Before departing abroad with my family for the education dispatch, my second son, who was scheduled to enter elementary school in March 2001, strongly wished to attend the same school for a short period of about two months with two friends he was close to at kindergarten at the time. Therefore, my wife and second son moved to the address in Bangbae-dong of one of those friends." On June 16 of the same year, nominee Noh and his family departed for the United States together.
He continued, "After returning on December 15, 2002, I planned to move to my current residence near the Planning and Budget Office (now Seoul Regional Public Procurement Service), where I worked, after disposing of the existing apartment in Sadang-dong, and immediately requested a real estate agent to sell the Sadang-dong apartment."
Nominee Noh added, "At that time, since the children's school start date was approaching, if they went to a school near the existing apartment, they would have to transfer to another school immediately after moving. Therefore, my wife and children first moved to my sister-in-law's house near our current residence. However, due to the real estate market sharply contracting at the time, the Sadang-dong apartment put up for sale was not sold for a long time, and the family only moved to the current residence in January 2005, where we have lived for 16 years since."
He said, "Regardless of the reasons, I sincerely apologize for causing concern to the public due to my past thoughtless actions."
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