The Link to Wealth Growth: Gangnam Apartments... Even Cheong Advisors Are No Exception

2020 Public Officials' Asset Disclosure: Key Cheongwadae Aides No Young-min, Kim Sang-jo Own Apartments in Gangnam 3 Districts... Significant Portion of Assets in Apartments, Value Increasing by 100M to 200M KRW Annually

[Asia Economy reporters Ryu Jeong-min and Son Seon-hee] "Senior public officials at the level of presidential secretaries or higher must actively participate in the government's real estate price stabilization policy." This was the message conveyed by Yoon Do-han, the Blue House Director of Public Communication, from Chief of Staff Noh Young-min on December 16 last year.

It was a recommendation for senior Blue House officials who own two or more houses in the Seoul metropolitan area to dispose of all but one as soon as possible. The message from the Chief of Staff aligns with the Moon Jae-in administration's governance philosophy. However, there are many criticisms that the Moon administration's 'rigidity' regarding real estate issues is out of touch with reality.

Critics argue that the policy overlooked the fact that owning two or more houses can be justified under special circumstances and ignored individuals' desires to own apartments in Seoul's "Gangnam 3 districts (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa)." In Korean society, real estate, especially apartments, is a key link to wealth accumulation. Simply owning an apartment in the Gangnam 3 districts can increase one's wealth by billions of won annually in South Korea. This reality applies to Blue House aides as well.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the '2020 Regular Asset Declaration' disclosed by the Government Public Officials Ethics Committee through the official gazette on the 26th, among 46 presidential aides including 40 from the Presidential Secretariat, 5 from the National Security Office, and 1 from the Presidential Security Service, 11 reported owning apartments in the Gangnam 3 districts. Key aides such as Chief of Staff Noh, Policy Chief Kim Sang-jo, Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim Jo-won, and Security Chief Joo Young-hoon are among those owning apartments in the Gangnam 3 districts.

Looking at multiple homeowners, Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim, formerly of the Board of Audit and Inspection, owned two apartments solely in the Gangnam 3 districts. Additionally, Senior Secretary for Civil Society Kim Geo-seong, Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Lee Ho-seung, Senior Secretary for Personnel Kim Oe-sook, and Senior Secretary for Jobs Hwang Deok-soon were also confirmed to own multiple houses. Senior Secretary for Social Affairs Kim Yeon-myeong and Secretary General Lee Jeong-do sold their previously owned houses to become single-homeowners. A Blue House official explained, "Among multiple homeowners, some are individually making efforts to sell, while others retain ownership due to unavoidable reasons such as caring for their parents."

Chief of Staff Noh declared the property value of an apartment in Hanshin Serae Village, Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, jointly owned with his spouse (45.72㎡), at 590 million won. Policy Chief Kim also registered an apartment in Hanshin Opera House 2nd Complex, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu (120.22㎡), jointly owned with his spouse, at 888 million won.

Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim declared his own apartment in Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Dogok Hanshin (84.94㎡) at 848 million won and his spouse's apartment in Galleria Palace, Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu (123.29㎡) at 920 million won. Security Chief Joo reported the current value of an apartment in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Banpo Xi (84.94㎡) at 1.472 billion won.

Archive photo / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

In particular, Security Chief Joo's Banpo Xi apartment increased in value by 240 million won due to price fluctuations despite him only owning that single complex. Chief of Staff Noh's Hanshin Serae Village apartment also rose in value by 129 million won over the past year. Professor Kwon Dae-jung of Myongji University's Department of Real Estate pointed out, "This can cause the public to feel social deprivation and resentment, increasing distrust in the government's real estate policies."

An interesting point is that the market prices of the apartments are higher than the declared amounts by Blue House aides. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Real Transaction Price Disclosure System, an apartment of the same exclusive area (84.94㎡) in Banpo-dong Banpo Xi, owned by Security Chief Joo, was traded for 2.51 billion won in February this year.

Security Chief Joo declared total assets including the apartment, deposits, and securities at about 1.98 billion won. However, in reality, the apartment alone is worth 2.5 billion won. This indicates that the actual wealth of Blue House aides is much greater than the declared amounts, with apartments constituting a significant portion of their assets.