[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] It has been revealed that President Moon Jae-in recently sold his private residence in Maegok-dong, Yangsan, Gyeongnam, where he lived before taking office, for over 2.6 billion KRW, earning a capital gain of 1.7 billion KRW. President Moon's real estate assets have significantly increased from about 800 million KRW in 2017, the year he took office, to 3 billion KRW last year.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system on the 31st, President Moon sold the Maegok-dong residence building (329.44㎡), parking lot (577㎡), three rice paddies (76㎡), and two road plots (51㎡) on the 17th of last month for a total of 2.61662 billion KRW.
The Maegok-dong residence was purchased by President Moon in two installments in January and March 2009 for 900 million KRW after finishing his work at the Blue House during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. Considering the remaining miscellaneous land (159㎡, purchase price 30 million KRW) that was not sold, the total purchase price was 870 million KRW. In other words, the building and land bought for 870 million KRW were resold at three times the price after 13 years. The capital gain amounted to 1.74 billion KRW. The Blue House stated that the capital gain was used to cover the debt for the construction costs of the Pyeongsan Village residence where President Moon and his wife will live after leaving office.
According to the 2022 regular asset change report disclosed by the Government Ethics Committee on the 31st, President Moon borrowed 388.73 million KRW from NongHyup Bank, and First Lady Kim Jung-sook borrowed 1.1 billion KRW as a private loan to cover construction costs. A Blue House official said, "The sale contract for the Maegok-dong house was recently signed, and the debt has likely been fully repaid recently."
President Moon's real estate assets have nearly quadrupled over the past five years. Real estate assets, including land and buildings, which were 790.63 million KRW in 2017, increased to a total of 3.05895 billion KRW last year, consisting of land (486.83 million KRW) and buildings (2.57212 billion KRW). Since the sale of the Maegok-dong detached house was not reflected, he temporarily held two houses as a single household, including the newly built Pyeongsan Village residence (2.25067 billion KRW). The declared value of the Maegok-dong detached house was 321.44 million KRW. The proportion of real estate assets in his total assets also rose from 42% to 139%.
Among the Blue House staff, Economic Advisor Nam Young-sook had the highest assets at 7.5 billion KRW. Notably, her assets increased by 4.81868 billion KRW in one year. The Blue House explained that this was because the assets of her parents, which were initially exempt from disclosure (2.34 billion KRW), were included, and due to moving, she temporarily held two houses as a single household, making 2.1 billion KRW appear excessive.
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