"Yoon Government to Dispose of Public Institution Assets Worth 23 Trillion Won Over Next 5 Years... Accelerating Public Institution Innovation"

Data from the Office of Go Yong-jin, Democratic Party of Korea

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho is presiding over the full meeting of the Public Institution Management Committee held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 23rd. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government plans to dispose of approximately 23 trillion KRW worth of public institution assets over the next five years.

On the 21st, Go Yongjin, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, analyzed the Ministry of Economy and Finance's "Public Institution Innovation Plan" and found that public institutions are expected to sell about 22.585 trillion KRW in total, including 13.891 trillion KRW in owned real estate assets and 8.694 trillion KRW in equity stakes in investee companies.

According to data submitted by 350 public institutions under the Ministry of Economy and Finance's released "Public Institution Innovation Guidelines," a large number of public institution-owned office buildings and sites located in prime locations nationwide, including Gangnam, Seocho, and Yongsan in Seoul, were included. The Korea Racing Authority plans to put up for sale the Seocho-dong site in Seocho-gu for 138.5 billion KRW in 2024 and the office building in Hangangno-dong, Yongsan-gu for 98 billion KRW in 2025. Korea District Heating Corporation submitted a plan to the Ministry of Economy and Finance to sell a site near Suseo Station in Gangnam-gu for 50 billion KRW in 2025.

By ministry, the scale of sales of tangible and intangible assets such as real estate was largest among public institutions under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, accounting for 8.9384 trillion KRW (61%). This was followed by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (1.5571 trillion KRW), Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (1.0428 trillion KRW), Financial Services Commission (660 billion KRW), and Ministry of Environment (394.1 billion KRW).

The scale of equity stake sales in investee companies was overwhelmingly dominated by public institutions under the Financial Services Commission, such as the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation and Korea Development Bank, accounting for 6.8736 trillion KRW (79%). Next were the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (1.2907 trillion KRW), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (258.6 billion KRW), Ministry of Economy and Finance (168.7 billion KRW), and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (50.3 billion KRW).

Assemblyman Go said, "Selling prime real estate or stocks with growth potential could cause long-term losses to the public," and added, "We must be cautious about public institution asset disposal plans to avoid the mistake of selling assets whose future value from holding them is much greater than immediate sale."