Average Holdings of 1.9 Billion Won... Who Is the Richest Real Estate Owner in the 22nd National Assembly?

Top Real Estate Wealth Holders in the 21st National Assembly Remain in Upper Ranks in the 22nd
Park Jeong and Park Deokheum Maintain 1st and 2nd Place in Real Estate Assets
Average Lawmaker's Assets Increase from 1.35 Billion to 1.89 Billion KRW... 40% Growth
Average General Public Assets at 410 Million KRW

The person with the largest real estate assets in the 22nd National Assembly was Park Jeong, a member-elect of the Democratic Party of Korea. He also ranked first in real estate assets in the 21st National Assembly. Excluding first-term, defeated, or non-running members, those who ranked high in real estate assets in the previous assembly expanded or maintained similar scales of real estate assets in the 22nd National Assembly, securing top positions.

According to a comparison of the analysis data on the assets of members-elect of the 21st and 22nd National Assemblies by the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), based on the amounts reported to the National Election Commission, the real estate assets of the 22nd general election winners (1.89 billion KRW) increased by 40% compared to those of the 21st winners (1.35 billion KRW).

National Assembly Building. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

Park Jeong ranked first in real estate assets again in the 22nd National Assembly following the 21st. His real estate assets amounted to 40.97 billion KRW, nearly 1.2 billion KRW more than the 39.78 billion KRW reported in the 21st Assembly. This is more than 22 times the average for the 22nd members-elect (1.89 billion KRW) and about 100 times the national average (410 million KRW). Park Jeong is known as a successful entrepreneur who established and operated a large language institute.

Park Deok-heum, a member-elect of the People Power Party, also maintained his position as second in real estate assets. His reported real estate assets increased from 28.88 billion KRW in the 21st general election to 30.99 billion KRW in the 22nd.

The third and fourth places in real estate assets were exchanged between Baek Jong-heon and Kim Eun-hye, both members-elect of the People Power Party. Baek, who was third in the 21st National Assembly, dropped to fourth in the 22nd, while Kim, who was fourth, rose to third. Baek Jong-heon's real estate assets increased from 17.01 billion KRW to 19.25 billion KRW, and Kim Eun-hye's assets grew from 16.85 billion KRW to 20.03 billion KRW.

There are also new figures who entered the rankings upon their first entry into the 22nd National Assembly. Seo Myeong-ok, a member-elect of the People Power Party, ranked fifth with real estate assets of 17.88 billion KRW. Democratic Party members-elect Kim Gi-pyo and Lee Byeong-jin ranked sixth (8.12 billion KRW) and tenth (6.93 billion KRW), respectively. Members Han Mu-gyeong, Ahn Byeong-gil, Kim Hong-geol, and Yang Jeong-suk, who ranked high in real estate assets in the 21st National Assembly, were not included in the 22nd due to reasons such as losing nominations, defeat, or not running.

Additionally, Park Jeom-sik, a member-elect of the People Power Party, jumped from ninth to seventh place with an increase of 1.82 billion KRW in real estate assets. Lee Eon-ju, a member-elect of the Democratic Party, ranked ninth with real estate assets of 7.7 billion KRW. Lee Eon-ju, who ran as a candidate for the United Future Party in Busan Nam-gu in the 21st general election but was defeated, joined the Democratic Party and was elected in Gyeonggi Yongin-jeong in the 22nd general election. Kim Gi-hyeon, whose real estate assets increased from 6.01 billion KRW to 7.74 billion KRW, maintained his eighth place.

Among the members who ranked high in real estate assets in the 22nd general election, some also ranked high in total assets. Park Deok-heum, second in real estate assets, reported total assets of 56.28 billion KRW, ranking second overall after Ahn Cheol-soo, a member-elect of the People Power Party, who ranked first with 140.14 billion KRW. Following them were Baek Jong-heon (third overall with 35.59 billion KRW, fourth in real estate assets) and Park Jeong (fourth overall with 35.17 billion KRW, first in real estate assets). Kim Eun-hye and Seo Myeong-ok, ranked third and fifth in real estate assets respectively, ranked seventh and eighth in total assets. According to CCEJ, among the top 10 in total assets, members-elect Ahn Cheol-soo, Park Su-min, and Yoon Sang-hyun of the People Power Party had a high proportion of securities assets, while Choi Eun-seok of the People Power Party had a high proportion of deposits.