By Lee Tae-hoon
Culture Minister-designate Shin Jae-min expressed regret over illegally registering under false addresses to access better educational opportunities for his children, but denied many of the other alleged law violations during his confirmation hearing, Tuesday.
“I have breached the Resident Registration Act four times to transfer my three daughters to new schools,” Shin said. “I’d like to offer my sincere apology to all law-abiding citizens.”
Under the law, those who falsely register addresses face up to three years in prison, or up to 10 million won ($8,420) in fines.
The appointee claimed that he was forced to act unlawfully because his children were bullied at school.
He conceded that false residence registration is a “crime,” but refused to answer whether he would withdraw his nomination over the breach.
“I have nothing else to say, but that I repent my misdeeds,” the nominee said.
Yet, lawmakers continued to come back to the issue of false address registration, which several of President Lee’s political appointees are under fire for.
Rep. Chough Soon-hyung of the minor Liberty Forward Party strongly admonished the nominee for his numerous real estate transactions.
Chough said “17 times in 17 years,” asking the nominee if he thought such a track record was in line with the Lee Myung-bak administration’s policy emphasis on the less-privileged.
He also called on the nominee to withdraw his nomination, which was supported by Rep. Chun Jung-bae of the DP, citing a drunk driving charge and the false address registration.
Grilled by Rep. Chang Byoung-wan of the main opposition Democratic Party, Shin reluctantly admitted having received dubious corporate sponsorship from Jaewon Tech, a construction supplies company in Seoul, from January 2007 to March 2008.
Asked whether he drove a rental car offered by the firm, he said “It is hard to recall, but Rep. Chang’s explanation appears to be accurate.”
However, Shin flatly denied all allegations that he broke the law over alleged property speculation and his wife’s questionable employment.
His personal fortune has nearly quadrupled from 341 million won in 2000 to 1.2 billion won in 2010, largely due to a rise in property prices.
Shin said his wife was hired by his friend’s company and happened to receive paychecks while rarely showing up to work.
“Though the process was legal, I admit it wasn’t fair for her to accept the job,” he said.