[2023 Asset Disclosure] Average 4.56 Billion KRW for 50 Presidential Office Aides... 1st Place Lee Won-mo with 44.4 Billion KRW

Chief Kim Dae-gi's Salary Up by 2.5 Billion KRW Since May Last Year
Explanation of 'Omission of Issued Notes Due to Administrative Error'
Senior Secretary Kim Eun-hye Ranks 2nd with 26.5 Billion KRW
Security Office 1st Deputy Kim Tae-hyo and Secretary Kim Dong-jo Follow

The average assets of 50 presidential office aides at the secretary level and above were reported to be 4.56 billion KRW. The individual who declared the highest assets was Personnel Secretary Lee Won-mo, who reported 44.39 billion KRW.

According to the "2023 Regular Asset Changes of Senior Public Officials" published in the government gazette on the 30th by the Government Public Officials Ethics Committee, as of December 31 of last year, Secretary Lee reported 44.39 billion KRW, about 200 million KRW less than his first declaration in July last year after the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.

The largest portion of Secretary Lee’s assets was stocks owned by his wife, valued at 32.8 billion KRW. His wife is the child of the chairman of a large oriental medicine hospital foundation and declared 20,000 shares of Green Myeongpum Pharmaceutical, 40,000 shares of Jaseng Bio, and 20,000 shares of JSD One, all unlisted stocks. The review of job-relatedness for these stocks concluded "no job-relatedness."

Secretary Lee also submitted details of an apartment pre-sale right in Yongsan-gu under his name, a commercial building in Sangye-dong, Nowon-gu owned by his wife, and deposits worth approximately 4.9 billion KRW held jointly by the couple.

Following Secretary Lee, the presidential office aide who declared the second highest assets was Senior Secretary Kim Eun-hye, with 26.49 billion KRW. This amount decreased by about 76 million KRW compared to the declaration in August last year. The largest portion of her assets was land in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, owned by her spouse, valued at 17.22 billion KRW.

National Security Office First Deputy Director Kim Tae-hyo followed, declaring 13.1 billion KRW. This was about 1 billion KRW more than his first declaration in May last year (approximately 12.06 billion KRW), which the presidential office explained was due to an increase in insurance policies to be inherited by his wife.

Kim Dong-jo, Secretary for National Message and a former analyst, reported assets worth approximately 12.5 billion KRW, of which 11.5 billion KRW were stocks. He also disclosed that he placed 200 unlisted shares of "Kim Dong-jo Corporation," which he owned, into a blind trust.

Next were Senior Secretary for National Planning Lee Kwan-seop (7.5 billion KRW), Chief Secretary Kim Dae-gi (7.34 billion KRW), Economic Security Secretary Wang Yoon-jong (7.2 billion KRW), and Legal Secretary Joo Jin-woo (7.06 billion KRW) in that order.

Chief Secretary Kim Dae-gi declared 7.34 billion KRW, an increase of about 2.5 billion KRW compared to his declaration in May last year. While deposits decreased from 2.3 billion KRW to 1.7 billion KRW, newly added bank-issued notes worth approximately 2.87 billion KRW were included.

Kim explained, "The bank-issued notes were omitted in the May declaration last year," adding, "During the process of transferring financial data notified by the ethics information system, an employee confused bank-issued notes with CMA accounts, resulting in the omission. It was a simple administrative error."

Secretary for National Planning Park Seong-hoon also declared assets worth 3.6 billion KRW, an increase of about 1.38 billion KRW from the previous year. The official price of an apartment in Hannam-dong, jointly owned with his wife, rose from 5.12 billion KRW to 6.18 billion KRW, reflecting the increase in assets. Deposits also increased from 620 million KRW to 930 million KRW. Park noted that these changes were due to salary increases for himself and his spouse.

Senior Secretary for Civil Society Kang Seung-gyu declared assets worth 1.89 billion KRW and reported spending 50 million KRW in condolence money for his mother’s funeral in August last year as part of the increase in cash.

Secretary for Small and Medium Ventures Kim Seong-seop declared negative assets of 190 million KRW, the lowest among the group.

The declaration list also included Kim Yong-hyun, head of the Security Office; Kim Jong-cheol, deputy head; former Protocol Secretary Kim Il-beom who resigned; former Education Secretary Seol Se-hoon who moved to become Deputy Superintendent of Education in Seoul; Security Strategy Secretary Lim Sang-beom, dispatched from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and former Foreign Secretary Lee Moon-hee, who recently returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.