'It was wrong,' Chang admits of false residence registration

The prime minister-designate, Chang Dae-whan, admitted Friday to falsifying the residence registration of his two children in the 1980s.

"I admit it was wrong," Mr. Chang said during a meeting with the press. But he added that he did it so that his children could get a better education.

Mr. Chang was accused of registering his wife, son and daughter at an apartment owned by an executive of the Maeil Business Newspaper in one of the wealthiest districts in Gangnam, southern Seoul. Before being tapped for the prime minister position, Mr. Chang was the president and publisher of the respected business daily.

After his children were admitted to schools in the Gangnam district, Mr. Chang changed back their residence registration address to his apartment in the Seongbuk district of central Seoul.

Mr. Chang asked the press Friday for understanding. He cited a well known Chinese fable in which a famous scholar's mother moved three times to further her son's education.

Responding to suspicion about how he acquired a 3,200-square-meter property in the Dobong district of northern Seoul during his military service, Mr. Chang said his grandmother had given the forest land to him.

The prime minister-designate added that a 2,100-square-meter property in Jeju Island was bought for his eventual retirement.

But he did not respond to questions about a 3.9 billion won ($3.3 million) loan to him and his wife. "I will answer it at the public hearing," Mr. Chang said. The parliamentary confirmation hearing will be held Monday and Tuesday next week.

The opposition Grand National Party on Friday continued to bring new allegations against the prime minister-designate. Representative Lee Won-hyung questioned a possible preferential loan to Mr. Chang. "In 2000 Mr. Chang received an advance of 33 billion won by putting up the Maeil Business Newspaper's branch office in Songpa district, southeastern Seoul, as collateral," Mr. Lee said. He insisted that the office was worth only 3.3 billion won, and that therefore the loan was too large relative to the value of the collateral.

The Maeil Business Newspaper disputed the accusation, insisting that the company's new and old offices in the Jung district, central Seoul, were also pledged, bringing the value of the collateral above the value of the loan and disproving any suspicion of possible special preference.

by Song Sang-hoon