Paju mayoral candidate accuses rival of omitting assets from disclosure, urges election commission probe

Park Yong-ho, the People Power Party candidate for Paju mayor in the June 3 local elections, on Monday urged the election commission to refer his Democratic Party of Korea rival Son Bae-chan to investigators, saying Son's amended property disclosure showed his total declared assets had grown by about 780 million won compared with the original filing.

Speaking at a press conference at the National Assembly's communication room, Park said Son's revised disclosure raised his total declared assets from roughly 625 million won to about 1.409 billion won. He called for an investigation into alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act's prohibition on publishing false facts.

Park said Son had filed corrections on May 26 through the National Election Commission's website, amending disclosures for seven properties held in his own name and that of his spouse.

"The corrections covered five properties in Son's name — land, an apartment and commercial units — as well as two properties in his spouse's name, an apartment and a commercial unit," Park said. "Properties beyond the single plot of land we originally raised concerns about were also amended."

Park added that because the corrections were made after campaign materials had already been distributed to voters, filing an amendment alone could not shield Son from legal liability for publishing false facts.

Park called on the Paju City Election Commission to refer the case to investigators for alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act, to publish a side-by-side comparison of the original and amended disclosures, and to refrain from announcing the corrections as a standalone notice without that context.

"Given that the asset disclosures for both Son and his spouse were substantially revised, the relevant facts must be made public so voters can make an informed judgment," Park said.