Who will stop the never-ending sophistry?

Yang Moon-seok, a Democratic Party (DP) candidate running in an Ansan district, Gyeonggi, is in the hot seat for a suspicious loan taken out for an apartment purchase under the name of his daughter. His past scheme hits a nerve for it has irked voters highly sensitive about real estate profiteering.

Yang bought an apartment in Jamwon-dong, a posh neighborhood in southern Seoul, costing 3.1 billion won ($2.3 million) in November 2020. At that time, people could not take out mortgage loans to buy homes valuing more than 1.5 billion won due to the government’s drive to rein in speculation. Yang took out an 1.1-billion-won loan from an outlet of the Korea Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives in Daegu on April 7, 2021, under the name of his daughter, a college student at the time. But he applied for the loan not for housing mortgage but for a self-owned business by her daughter.

Mortgage loans must be repaid in principal and interests, but a business loan can be repaid first only in interest and entirely upon maturity to support the self-employed and small merchants. The apartment’s value gained more than 1 billion won since Yang’s purchase. He leveraged on the business loan to profit 1 billion won while paying off just the interest. Law experts think Yang could be accused of fraud.

But Yang asked if his family loan caused any harm to anyone. Under his reasoning, doing drugs should be pardoned if the act does not harm anyone except the drug-taking individual.

Another DP candidate Gong Young-woon, bidding for a Gyeonggi district, also provoked controversy over his property gift to his son. Gong in June 2017 bought a real estate property in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, for 1.1 billion won. Its property value jumped four months after Hyundai Steel, a subsidiary Hyundai Motor, announced a plan which would help raise the prices of properties in the neighborhood. At that time, Gong was a vice president of Hyundai Motor. He could be suspected of speculative activity using insider information. The real estate is now valued at more than 3 billion won.

It was in April 2021 that Gong gifted the property to his 22-year-old son who was then serving the military. But a day later, the government announced a plan banning home owners from gifting a residence in which they do not live to their family members. Is this just a coincidence?

The DP revoked the candidacy of Lee Young-sun in a Sejong constituency after her questionable property investment prompted controversy. But the DP leadership leaves recent affairs up to the candidates to handle. Do they think they can get elected regardless of the revelations? Voters will be closely watching how the DP will act.