Kang Byung-kyu, Candidate for Minister of Security and Public Administration Made Two False Resident Registrations and His Wife Illegally Owns Farmland

* Kang admitted, "Because of eldest son's middle and high school...will dispose of the land in question."

It was revealed that Kang Byung-kyu (60), candidate for minister of security and public administration had falsely registered his residence twice. It was also confirmed that Kang's wife illegally owned farmland valued at over 400 million won. Kang has admitted all the allegations.

According to Democratic lawmakers Kim Hyun and Jin Sun-mee, members of the National Assembly's Security and Public Administration Committee, on March 18, candidate Kang and his wife Kim registered their residence as H mansion in Ichon-dong, Yongsan-gu from Sinjeong-dong, Yangcheon-gu before their eldest son entered middle school in August 1997, and again changed their residence to G apartment in Ichon-dong in February 1998.

Kang Byung-kyu, candidate for minister of security and public administration / file photo

Kim and her eldest son registered a new residence at Huam-dong, Yongsan-gu in August 2000 prior to the son's high school admission, and again changed their residence back to Ichon-dong in March 2001, just before the start of the new semester. The family repeatedly registered their residence at a new address each time the eldest son entered middle and high school and then changed their residence back to their original address whenever the school year began.

In a press release, Kang admitted that he had falsely registered his residence concerning the false registration in 2000 saying, "We temporarily changed our address to Huam-dong, so my son could go to the high school of his choice." He then added, "Although it was for the purpose of our child's education, we should have given it more thought, and I am sorry that we didn't."

It was also revealed that Kang's wife, Kim illegally owned 7246m2 of farmland in Baekam-myeon, Cheoin-gu in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. After Kim inherited the land from her father in August 2012, she submitted a farm management plan at the Baekam-myeon office claiming she would farm the land with her own labor.

However, Kim has been residing in Seoul all along, working at an office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. This is a violation of the Farmland Act.

Kang said, "At the time, we put a judicial scrivener in charge of the specific inheritance procedure, and we only realized that there were some problems in the process of preparing for this hearing. We will sell the farmland in question."