"Average Real Estate Holdings of Presidential Office Officials Reach 2 Billion KRW... Calls to Restrict Ownership Beyond Primary Residence"

[Financial News] The average real estate assets held by senior officials affiliated with the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea under the Lee Jae-myung administration have been found to be approximately 2 billion KRW.
On the 10th, the Citizen's Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) held a press conference at its auditorium in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to announce the results of a real estate asset analysis for 28 officials from the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea. The analysis covered 28 out of 51 officials whose assets were publicly disclosed.
According to CCEJ, the average reported real estate assets among these officials amounted to 2,031,590,000 KRW, which is 4.87 times higher than the national average of 417,520,000 KRW.
The top five officials in terms of reported housing assets averaged 5,420,280,000 KRW. Kim Sang-ho, Secretary for Press Support, reported the highest amount at 7.5 billion KRW, followed by Lee Tae-hyung, Secretary for Civil Affairs (5.85 billion KRW), Jinyoung Moon, Senior Secretary for Social Affairs (5.2 billion KRW), Choi Seong-a, Secretary for Overseas Media (4.65 billion KRW), and Kang Yu-jeong, Spokesperson (3.89 billion KRW).
Most officials in the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea were found to own residential properties. Of the 28 surveyed, 23 (82.14%) owned homes, and among them, 8 (28.57%) were multiple homeowners with two or more properties.
The homes owned by these officials were mainly concentrated in Seoul. Of the 38 properties owned by 23 homeowners and their spouses, 9 officials held 15 homes in the Gangnam 3 Districts (Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, and Songpa-gu), 5 officials owned 6 homes in other areas of Seoul, 10 officials held 10 homes in the metropolitan area outside Seoul, and 7 officials owned 7 homes in other regions.
CCEJ criticized that some homeowners did not actually reside in their properties. Among the 23 homeowners, 7 (30.43%) were found to be leasing their properties under jeonse contracts. By region, 7 out of 20 metropolitan area homeowners (35.0%), 4 out of 12 Seoul homeowners (33.3%), and 2 out of 9 Gangnam 3 Districts homeowners (22.2%) were suspected of not using their properties as primary residences.
Some officials from the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea also owned non-residential real estate. Of the 28 surveyed, 11 (39.29%) held non-residential buildings in their own or their spouse’s name. These 15 properties included 4 held by 4 officials in the Gangnam 3 Districts (26.67%), 3 held by 3 officials in other parts of Seoul (20.0%), 5 held by 3 officials in the metropolitan area outside Seoul (33.33%), and 3 held by 3 officials in other regions (20.0%).
CCEJ called for new measures to prevent real estate speculation by senior officials and to address housing inequality. Jo Jeongheun, Chair of the CCEJ Land and Housing Committee (appraiser), stated, "It is necessary to fundamentally prohibit the ownership and trading of land and houses not used as primary residences, and to introduce a Blind Trust System for senior officials."
jyseo@fnnews.com Seo Ji-yoon Reporter