Han Seong-suk, the Minister of SMEs and Startups nominee, stated regarding the suspicion of "the illicit donation of an apartment in Jamsil" that she was "not sensitive enough to the part about needing to have a rental relationship with her mother."
On the morning of the 7th, the nominee arrived at the prepared office for her personnel hearing at the Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul, stating, "This is a house I lived in with my mother, and she continues to reside there. I did not think it was an illicit donation."
Previously, the opposition raised suspicions that the nominee made an illicit donation of the apartment to her mother. According to Representative Kim Seong-won of the People Power Party, the nominee owns an apartment located in Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
The nominee lived here with her mother before moving in March 2022 to her current residence in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Representative Kim claims that the nominee registered her mother as the head of the household for the Jamsil apartment and made an illicit donation.
The nominee noted, "My mother is over 80 years old and does not have any income," adding, "I was unaware that as we were living together and I was moving out, I needed to establish a rental relationship with my mother, and I was not sensitive enough to that."
The Inheritance and Gift Tax Act stipulates that if a person other than the owner benefits from the use of real estate without compensation, the gift tax applies, and it must be declared within three months.
Representative Kim pointed out that based on the valuation of the apartment at approximately 2.3 billion won in May 2022, the nominee's mother would have needed to pay around 14 million won in gift tax on the property value of about 170 million won.
The nominee explained, "If I gift to my mother, she has to pay the gift tax directly, and when I inherit, I will have to pay inheritance tax again," stating, "I will present the relevant materials and the current situation at the hearing."
The National Assembly hearing for the nominee will take place on the 15th.