Land minister nominee quizzed over possible housing speculation

Choi Jeong-ho, nominee for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, speaks during his parliamentary confirmation hearing, Monday. /

By Park Ji-won

Choi Jeong-ho, nominee for land, infrastructure and transport minister, was questioned at a confirmation hearing Monday about alleged property speculation.

Rep. Lee Hyun-jae of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) claimed Choi's purchases of three apartments in Seoul, Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province and Sejong City were speculative, so he was not qualified to be land minister.

“Housing speculation is suspected to have taken place in all the areas he bought houses,” said Lee. Lee added that Choi was suspected of having bought those houses with the aim of property speculation, saying he could earn 2.3 billion won if he sold them now.

“I doubt that a nominee who invested in multiple houses can lead the country's housing policies,” Lee said.

Opposition lawmakers say Choi's nomination does not make sense because the Moon Jae-in government is trying to stabilize the housing market by raising taxes on the owners of multiple houses.

Choi said, “I am really sorry about the criticism regarding my houses and take it seriously.”

Rep. Lim Jong-seong of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) defended Choi, saying he had expertise in the land ministry. Rep. Hwang Hee also said, “Owning multiple houses is not a crime.”

Regarding claims that he gave an apartment to his daughter and son-in-law to disguise the speculation, Choi said the apartment was legally given to his family members and that he temporarily rented his daughter's house before moving to another apartment.