Moon Seok-gyun, the son of National Assembly Chairman Moon Hee-sang and also the standing vice chairman of the party’s Uijeongbu District One office holds a “book concert” celebrating the publication of his book, That Family’s Son, in Uijeongbu on January 11.

Moon Seok-gyun, the standing vice chairman of the Uijeongbu District One office of the Democratic Party of Korea, was at the center of controversy for “succeeding” the candidacy in his father’s district, but on January 20, it was also confirmed that he had registered the official residence of his father, National Assembly Chairman Moon Hee-sang, in Hannam-dong as his son’s residence. This is expected to trigger a heated debate about him taking advantage of his father’s position for his child’s education.

On January 20, a representative of Chairman Moon said, “Seok-gyun stayed in the area to run a bookstore in Uijeongbu, and after Chairman Moon was elected as the National Assembly chairman, his wife looked after his parents in the official Hannam-dong residence along with the children,” and further explained, “From what I know when the chairman’s term ends, she and her children will return to Uijeongbu.”

Earlier, Moon’s daughter-in-law, Heo and her son and daughter registered the official residence of the National Assembly chairman in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul as their residence shortly after Moon stepped up as chairman in July 2018. Moon Seok-gyun son remained in Uijeongbu to prepare for his bid in the local constituency, and so registered a separate address from his wife and children. Chairman Moon’s grandson was elected the student president of Hannam Elementary School in 2019, and reportedly, was assigned to a middle school in Yongsan-gu this year.

Chairman Moon refuted that this was not taking advantage of his position. The chairman’s representative said, “Seok-gyun lived for nearly ten years in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, and his grandson had attended Banpo Elementary School until the fourth grade before the family moved to Uijeongbu. So claiming that this was taking advantage of the chairman’s position is distorting the truth.” He further said, “The daughter-in-law should actually be praised for looking after her elderly parents-in-law.”

Earlier, Moon Seok-gyun held a “book concert” celebrating the publication of his book, That Family’s Son, in Uijeongbu, his father’s district on January 11, and announced his bid in the upcoming elections in Uijeongbu District One. This stirred controversy over a “succession of constituencies,” to which Moon Seok-gyun replied, “I will walk my father’s path, but I refuse to take advantage of my father’s status.”

However, this day, Kim Hae-yeong, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea’s Supreme Council said, “According to our public sentiment, it will be difficult for the public to accept a child of an incumbent lawmaker making a bid in his parent’s district after being nominated a candidate by the party immediately following his father’s term in office,” and criticized, “In the case of Korea, unlike Japan, the people do not agree to a succession of political power.”

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