Real Estate of National Assembly Members is a 'Decline-Free Zone'... Cases of Building Prices Rising by 2.4 Billion Won

2023 National Assembly Members' Asset Disclosure
9 out of 10 Members Show Asset Increase
Rise in Real Estate Official Prices, Deposit Growth, etc.

Last year, 7 out of 10 members of the National Assembly saw their assets increase by more than 100 million KRW within a year. Including those with increases of less than 100 million KRW, over 87% of the lawmakers experienced growth in their personal wealth, meaning nearly nine out of ten saw their personal coffers swell. This is largely attributed to rising real estate official prices, increased deposits, and loan repayments. The average assets of the lawmakers were calculated at 2.52605 billion KRW (excluding 4 members with over 50 billion KRW), which is five times higher than the average household assets in Korea (547.72 million KRW).

According to the 2023 regular asset change reports of National Assembly members disclosed by the Public Officials Ethics Committee on the 31st, out of 296 lawmakers, 258 (87.2%) reported an increase in their assets compared to last year.

Looking at the scale of increase, 206 members saw their assets grow by more than 100 million KRW. By range, 8 members (2.7%) increased by more than 1 billion KRW, 18 members (6.1%) by 500 million to less than 1 billion KRW, and 180 members (60.8%) by 100 million to less than 500 million KRW.

The lawmaker with the largest asset increase was Han Mu-gyeong of the People Power Party, whose reported assets rose from 13.86658 billion KRW to 20.9189 billion KRW, an increase of 7.03531 billion KRW in one year. A significant factor was the repayment of 5.23071 billion KRW out of 5.3348 billion KRW in building-related loans.

On the 25th, National Assembly Secretariat officials are reviewing the 2020 regular asset change report details of 1,865 asset disclosure subjects, which were made public through the official gazette at the National Assembly./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Park Jeong of the Democratic Party reported 45.81482 billion KRW last year, but this year reported 50.5985 billion KRW, marking the second-largest increase among lawmakers. This was due to the rise in value of unlisted stocks such as those of Park Jeong Language Academy owned by him and the increase in building prices. The unlisted stocks reported by Park, including those owned by his spouse, totaled 15.495 billion KRW, up from 13.33667 billion KRW last year. The building he owns in Mapo-gu, Seoul, increased from 37.75119 billion KRW to 40.21843 billion KRW, rising by about 2.4 billion KRW, resulting in a total asset increase of 4.78368 billion KRW.

The third-largest asset increase was by Jeong Woo-taek, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly from the People Power Party, who reported assets of 14.3142 billion KRW this year. His previous reported assets were 11.12951 billion KRW, an increase of 3.18469 billion KRW. His apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul, rose from 1.478442 billion KRW last year to 1.743 billion KRW this year, an increase of 264.558 million KRW. His deposits also increased from 2.1488 billion KRW last year to 5.0742 billion KRW this year. This was explained as resulting from salary savings, sales of unlisted stocks, and ongoing land sale contracts with deposits and interim payments received.

Baek Jong-heon of the People Power Party saw an increase of 3.15692 billion KRW (total reported assets 29.73191 billion KRW), followed by Kim Hong-geol, an independent lawmaker, with an increase of 2.66381 billion KRW (total 8.6983 billion KRW).

The lawmaker with the largest assets is Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party. Ahn reported assets of 134.796 billion KRW this time, a significant decrease from the previous 204.0555 billion KRW. This was due to the valuation of 1.86 million shares of AhnLab changing from 193.44 billion KRW to 124.062 billion KRW. Despite a decrease of 69.3459 billion KRW, he still holds the largest assets among lawmakers.

Following him, Jeon Bong-min of the People Power Party reported 55.91677 billion KRW, ranking second in asset holdings. His assets reported last year were 106.55578 billion KRW but nearly halved this time. This was due to changes in the blind trust of stocks and the valuation of unlisted stocks he owns. The valuation of companies where he was CEO, such as Ijin Housing and Dongsu Construction, dropped from 91.86016 billion KRW to 44.36192 billion KRW.

Park Deok-heum of the People Power Party also reported assets of 52.61714 billion KRW this year, down from 67.23846 billion KRW last year. This was due to the establishment of a blind trust for unlisted stocks he owns.

Jin Sun-mi of the Democratic Party reported negative assets (-934.3 million KRW) due to spouse debts, ranking last for the second consecutive year. Kim Min-seok of the same party also reported negative 14.01 million KRW.

Meanwhile, the average assets of lawmakers were 3.48462 billion KRW, an increase of over 300 million KRW from last year's 3.15915 billion KRW. Excluding the 4 members who reported over 50 billion KRW, the average assets were 2.52605 billion KRW, up 143.51 million KRW from last year's 2.38254 billion KRW. This is about five times higher than the national average and, considering the worsening economic crisis last year and the increase in household debt among citizens, there is an analysis that a gap exists. According to recent statistics released by Statistics Korea, the average household assets in 2022 were 547.72 million KRW, and after subtracting debts of 91.7 million KRW, the net assets were 456.02 million KRW.