Yang Moon-seok, Democratic Party Candidate for Gyeonggi Ansan Gap, Admits to "Improper Loan"
Former Saenuri Party (predecessor of the People Power Party) lawmaker Jeon Yeo-ok harshly criticized Yang Moon-seok, the Democratic Party candidate for Gyeonggi Ansan Gap, by comparing his daughter to Cho Min, the daughter of Cho Kuk, leader of the Innovation Party, who is currently on trial for 'admission fraud allegations,' calling her the "second Cho Min." This was in reference to the controversy over so-called 'irregular loans' involving an 1.3710㎡ apartment in Jamwon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, which Yang purchased using an 1.1 billion KRW loan under the name of his then 20-year-old college-aged daughter.
Democratic Party of Korea Candidate Yang Moon-seok for Ansan Gap, Gyeonggi Province [Image source=Yonhap News]
On the 30th, former lawmaker Jeon posted under the title "Yang Moon-seok's daughter, the 'second Cho Min~'" stating, "Yang Moon-seok candidate's shamelessness is off the charts. He disguised his college-aged daughter as a self-employed person to secure a whopping 1.1 billion KRW loan! Wow. Impressive! You, Moon-seok." She added, "Forgery of financial institution documents is a serious crime. It is only natural to have to pay it back and face criminal charges," and said, "Yang Moon-seok candidate's daughter has become the 'second Cho Min.'"
She also criticized the party-level response, saying, "But Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader, is going to carry this. It's even more serious than Lee Young-sun, the Democratic candidate," and added, "Gong Young-woon, the Democratic candidate for Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, who transferred a 3 billion KRW building to his 24-year-old son, is said to be 'no problem'." Democratic Party candidate Gong Young-woon of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, has been embroiled in allegations of 'clever gifting' of redevelopment area real estate worth tens of billions to his 20-something child.
She further said, "Nothing could be happier than this~ I hope they hold on tightly until April 10, even if their ribs break!" and added, "Cho Kuk leader is holding onto Park Eun-jung, the proportional representation candidate worth 16 billion KRW~."
Yang purchased the Seocho-gu apartment on August 6, 2020, jointly with his spouse. The purchase price at the time was 3.12 billion KRW. However, eight months after the purchase, on April 7, 2021, Daegu Suseong Saemaeul Geumgo set a mortgage with a maximum claim amount of 1.32 billion KRW on the property. The debtor listed was Yang's eldest daughter, who was a college student in her 20s at the time. In the property declaration for this general election candidate registration, Yang also reported an 1.1 billion KRW loan and 1.5 million KRW in deposits under his eldest daughter's name. She appears not to have any economic activity as there is no tax payment history.
According to the December 16, 2019 real estate measures under the Moon Jae-in administration, mortgage loans were completely banned when purchasing apartments worth over 1.5 billion KRW in regulated areas such as speculative zones and overheated speculation districts. Therefore, the loan Yang's eldest daughter received is presumed not to have been a mortgage loan. Since mortgage loans are difficult without income, it is highly likely that an irregular method was used, such as registering a business under the daughter's name to obtain a personal business loan.
Regarding this, Yang admitted, "At the time, there was a frenzy of borrowing with all one's assets, so I acknowledge that there was an irregular aspect to the loan."
Yang previously wrote a column in 2008 containing statements such as "President Roh Moo-hyun, who pushed through the Korea-US FTA (Free Trade Agreement) despite 60-70% of the people opposing it, is a defective product." After this became known, calls for his withdrawal from the general election candidacy arose, and figures such as former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who serves as chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, and former National Assembly Secretary-General Lee Kwang-jae, considered a 'true heir of pro-Roh,' also demanded the withdrawal of his nomination.
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