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Ahn Cheol-soo, the Seoul National University professor, was under fire Tuesday for allegedly exaggerating the period of time he lived in rented accommodation.
Ahn’s motives were not clear. Analysts, meanwhile, speculate that he might have wanted to appeal to low-income families with his version of a rise from humble origins.
In the book, titled “Ahn Cheol-soo’s Thoughts” released in July, Ahn stated that he knows of the plight facing people who don’t have their own home better than anyone else. “I lived without my own home for a long time, so I know exactly how tenants feel,” he said in the book.
Housing contracts usually last for two years. Tenants have to vacate their place unless landlords agree to renew their contract. Landlords prefer a new contract in order to raise the rent and tenants who cannot afford the increase need to find a new place to live.
Ahn’s remarks, however, turned out to be false. He purchased an apartment in Seoul in 1988, the year he was married as a graduate school student. One year later he moved into it.
In reality he had lived in a contract-based housing as a tenant for less than a year and what he said in his book was exaggerated.
Suspicions also arise concerning his tax records, too. He purchased the apartment with financial help from his parents and this would have required him to pay taxes.
Asking for anonymity, a publicist for Ahn said he would check if the allegation was true and probably needed time because the contract was made several decades ago.
Coupled with the reports that he had joined the petition calling for leniency on behalf of a corrupt businessman who was serving a jail term for audit fraud in 2005, the fresh allegation is likely to deal another blow to Ahn. He was portrayed as an ethical start-up businessman until these charges surfaced.
Bloggers reacted with mixed reactions to Ahn’s exaggeration regarding his home.
An Internet user indentified as Jonghopark966 tweeted that he was suspicious of Ahn’s motives for remaining indecisive about his presidential ambitions. “He has yet to make his decision on the presidential bid not because he is indecisive, but probably because he has a lot to hide.”
But another blogger raised suspicions of a media conspiracy on the recent surge of negative coverage of Ahn. An Internet user, jejsusjela, said the conservative media strives to find faults with Ahn and pounces on any chance for negative coverage of the founder of the computer virus vaccine provider AhnLab.
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