Kim Jongcheol’s assets as police chief nominee rise from 1.7 billion to 2 billion won... Kim’s family holds two redevelopment move-in rights

[Financial News] Ahead of his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly, police chief nominee Kim Jongcheol reported assets totaling 2,032,000,000 won for himself and his family. That is about 313,000,000 won more than the assets disclosed as of the end of last year.
According to the confirmation hearing request submitted to the National Assembly on the 11th, the assets Kim reported for himself and his family totaled 2,032,006,000 won. Compared with the 1,718,843,000 won in assets as of the end of December last year, disclosed through the Official Gazette in March, that was an increase of 313,163,000 won over about 10 months.
Of the increase in assets, 92,860,000 won was due to a change in the reported value of inherited land in Sangdaewon-dong, Jungwon District, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The reported value of the land rose from 109,770,000 won to 202,633,000 won.
Kim inherited the land with his older sister after their father died in 2023, acquiring 90% of the total ownership share. When he disclosed his assets in March, he listed the area he owned as about 30 square meters out of the total 59.50 square meters, but in this filing he revised it to 53.55 square meters to match the share recorded in the land registry.
The asset-change filing cited an error in the recorded information due to joint ownership and a change in the officially assessed land price as reasons for the change in the asset value. Kim’s side said that, during the previous filing, the area corresponding to his share of the jointly owned land had been entered incorrectly.
A separate plot of land that Kim’s spouse bought in Sangdaewon-dong in 2014 was reported at 261,112,000 won. Both the land Kim inherited and the land owned by his spouse are within the redevelopment project area of Seongnam’s Sangdaewon 2 District.
As each plot gave rise to a right to move into an apartment, suspicions also emerged that the real estate had been acquired with an eye to profiting from redevelopment.
In response, Kim’s side explained that his mother and spouse bought homes in 2008 and 2014, respectively, for the purpose of living in them. They also said they had tried to sell one of the move-in rights, but that restrictions on land transactions currently made it difficult to dispose of it.
There were also changes in housing-related assets. In February, Kim’s family moved from an apartment in Songpa District, Seoul, to a row house in Gangnam District, and the lease deposit rose from 800 million won to 840 million won.
Savings and deposits in the family’s names, including insurance and mutual aid association contributions, totaled 771,860,000 won. That was about 82 million won more than the amount previously reported. Financial liabilities fell by about 51 million won. The decrease in debt also contributed to the increase in overall net assets.
Information related to military service and criminal history was also disclosed. Kim enlisted in May 1990, served in the Korean Service Support Group of the U.S. Eighth Army in Korea, and completed his service as an Army sergeant in November 1992. A Korean National Police Agency check confirmed that he had no criminal record.
In the statement of reasons for the confirmation hearing request submitted to the National Assembly, President Lee Jae Myung said Kim had broad experience in major police policy areas, including not only frontline public safety but also autonomous policing, personnel and intelligence.
He added that Kim had the comprehensive perspective needed to pursue reform of the criminal justice system and police reform, and had demonstrated leadership and crisis-management abilities by responding to organizational crises as acting chief of the Korean National Police Agency.
Kim’s confirmation hearing at the National Assembly is scheduled for the 18th.
[email protected] Kim Ye-ji Reporter