`Ahn Jeong-Nam Family Town` Confirmed

It was confirmed that not only Minister Ahn`s brother but also Ahn`s son-in-law Mr. `Y` (37. chairperson of the `C` publishing company) owns land amounting to 850 million won nearby Daechi-dong, Seoul, which is owned by Minister Ahn Jeong-Nam.

Therefore, land owned by Minister Ahn`s relatives and in-laws around this area is 388 pyongs including Minister Ahn`s 125 pyongs.

According to the Dong-a Ilbo`s report yesterday, it was discovered that Mr. `Y` owns a building with 2 stories above and 1 story below in the 64 pyong of land, which is located in 949-3 Daechi-dong adjacent to the Minister Ahn`s building in 949-7 Daechi-dong.

Especially, as it was discovered that Mr. `Y` co-owns 66 pyongs of land with Minister Ahn`s second brother Seung-Nam in 949-6 Daechi-dong, it became clear that Minister Ahn`s relatives and in-laws purchased the land centering on this area.

Brokers in this area said that ``388 pyongs of land and the building related to Minister Ahn amounts to 1 billion won in the market price.``

However, when Mr. `Y` purchased two fields in 1995, his `C` publishing company was reportedly to have had serious financial difficulties. Therefore, suspicion is arising as to whether Mr. `Y` lent his name to Minister Ahn.

According to the registered transcript confirmed by the reporters, Mr. `Y` purchased the land and building in 949-3 in Daechi-dong, and he received 50 percent share (350 million won of market price) of the land in the 949-6, which was owned by Minister Ahn`s second brother Seung-Nam and Mr. `J` in September 1995.

Considering that the market price has fluctuated much since the purchase, it is likely that Mr. `Y` purchased land amounting to 1.2 billion won within four months.

In relation to this, a related person who used to work for the `C` publishing company said that ``considering the financial difficulties of the company at that time, it was unlikely that Mr. `Y` could purchase such land.``

Responding to this, Chung Jae-Hun, a managing director of `C` company, said, ``Since the president [Mr. `Y`] had made money by himself by working and his own family is financially secure, he probably has not received financial support from his wife`s family [Minister Ahn`s family].`` Mr. `Y` declined a phone-interview with the Dong-a Ilbo reporters.

libra@donga.com