[2023 Asset Disclosure] Kwon Young-se, Minister of Unification, Owns 4.6 Billion KRW... Purchased 'Hotel Membership'

Purchase of 190 Million Won Banyan Tree Hotel Membership
Minister's Spouse Reports 130 Million Won Half 3 Points
'Unification Ministry's Largest Property' Lee Joo-tae, Director of Unification Policy Office

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se reported assets totaling 4,635,560,000 KRW, including a newly purchased hotel membership.

According to the "2023 Regular Asset Changes of Senior Public Officials" as of December 31 last year, published in the official gazette by the Government Ethics Committee on the 30th, Minister Kwon's assets increased by about 220 million KRW compared to his first report after the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.

Minister of Unification Kwon Young-se [Photo by Yonhap News]

The largest portion of the assets was buildings (2,566,000,000 KRW), with a joint ownership with his spouse of a townhouse (164㎡) in his constituency, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The price of this house rose from 1,040,000,000 KRW to 1,148,000,000 KRW. Additionally, the jeonse right of another townhouse (221㎡) in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, also jointly owned with his spouse, remained at 1,400,000,000 KRW.

Minister Kwon newly purchased a membership worth 190,000,000 KRW in Able Hyundai Hotel & Resort Co., Ltd., which operates the Banyan Tree Hotel. He also reported three harps (130,000,000 KRW) and one painting (30,000,000 KRW) registered under his spouse's name. His spouse is known to be a harpist who graduated from Seoul National University College of Music.

Vehicles reported include a 2015 Kia All-New Carnival (12,060,000 KRW) under his name and a 2021 Hyundai GV70 (46,120,000 KRW) owned by his spouse. The 2012 Hyundai Equus (21,110,000 KRW) previously owned by Minister Kwon was sold.

Deposits reported totaled 109,170,000 KRW for the family, including 30,450,000 KRW owned by Minister Kwon. This is slightly less than the previous 159,860,000 KRW, explained as spent on living expenses and other purposes. Additionally, his eldest and second daughters reported Samsung Electronics stocks of 675 and 488 shares respectively. The value of the two children’s stocks decreased from 91,060,000 KRW to 64,310,000 KRW.

The senior Unification Ministry official with the highest reported assets is Lee Joo-tae, Director of the Unification Policy Office, with 7,844,620,000 KRW. This is an increase of about 780 million KRW from the previous report. The largest increase was in deposits, which rose from 281,450,000 KRW to 779,200,000 KRW. This was explained as the deposit of the returned jeonse deposit after moving into an apartment (112㎡) in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, previously rented under a jeonse contract. He also reported a neighborhood living facility (2,353,820,000 KRW; 393㎡) in Nam-gu, Ulsan, jointly owned with his spouse.

Additionally, Deputy Minister Kim Ki-woong reported assets of 1,491,360,000 KRW, Planning and Coordination Office Director Kang Jong-seok 3,587,660,000 KRW, Exchange and Cooperation Office Director Park Cheol 1,517,000,000 KRW, South-North Summit Headquarters Chief Lee Sang-min 1,537,230,000 KRW, Head of the North Korean Defector Settlement Support Office (Hanawon) Seo Jeong-bae 3,237,680,000 KRW, and Chief of the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office Choo Seok-yong 587,100,000 KRW, respectively.