The People Power Party directly criticized the “failure of personnel verification at the presidential office” as allegations arose on Nov. 11 regarding Oh Kwang-su, chief of staff for civil affairs, for maintaining a real estate property under a borrowed name and allegations of a borrowed loan. The party immediately urged Oh to resign.
Spokesperson Lee Jun-woo pointed out in a commentary that day, “It has been revealed that Chief Oh has been maintaining real estate in Dongtan-myeon, Hwaseong-si, under a borrowed name and omitted it from the public official property report. This is a clear violation of the Real Name System for Real Estate and the Public Official Ethics Act.”
He also noted, “Chief Oh is said to have borrowed over 1 billion won under a borrowed name in the name of an acquaintance while serving as the director general of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office. As he was promoted to a position that requires property disclosure, strong suspicion arises whether this was not an act of name trust for the purpose of concealing his assets,” directly criticizing the allegations of “borrowed loans.”
He continued, “The chief of staff for civil affairs is responsible for personnel verification and public official monitoring.” He criticized, “If a person under suspicion of ‘asset concealment’ takes on the role of chief of staff for civil affairs, which public official would be afraid of the civil affairs office?”
In particular, regarding a presidential office official’s comment to reporters that he had only learned about the allegations against Chief Oh's borrowed property through the media, he pointedly remarked that it was “an admission of failure in personnel verification.”
He urged, “Chief Oh should resign immediately, and the presidential office must apologize to the public over this situation.”
Spokesperson Ho Joon-seok also criticized in a commentary, “How can the chief of staff for civil affairs, who is responsible for overseeing personnel verification, verify others with such morality? It is a situation where he should be investigated beyond moral issues for possible illegality.”
Meanwhile, Chief Oh has been embroiled in controversy as it has been reported by the media that during his tenure as a chief of the prosecutor's office from 2012 to 2015, he managed real estate including land and buildings owned by his wife through a trustee arrangement with an acquaintance, A, and omitted this from property declarations. Chief Oh is also under suspicion of having borrowed 1.5 billion won in a borrowed loan under a friend's name at a savings bank during his time as director general of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office. He expressed that he feels “sorry and embarrassed” regarding the allegations of “borrowed real estate.”