Park Seongjae, Minister of Justice, 2.9 Billion Won... Chungnam National University Former President Lee Jinsuk, 3.9 Billion Won 'Highest Current Salary'

81 High-Ranking Officials Disclose Assets

Park Seong-jae, Minister of Justice

Park Seong-jae, Minister of Justice, reported assets worth 2,882,490,000 KRW, and Yoon Oh-jun, 3rd Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, reported assets worth 2,458,100,000 KRW.

The Government Official Ethics Committee published the "May Interim Asset Registration of Senior Officials" in the electronic official gazette on the 31st. The disclosure this month covers 81 senior officials whose status changed between February 2 and March 1 this year, including 21 newly appointed, 20 promoted, and 26 retired officials.

Among key personnel, Minister Park reported assets totaling 2,882,490,000 KRW. He declared an apartment in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul (164.46㎡) jointly owned with his spouse at 2,450,000,000 KRW, which constitutes the majority of his assets. Deposits of about 200 million KRW and stocks worth 57 million KRW held with family members were also included.

Yoon Oh-jun, 3rd Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, declared 2,458,100,000 KRW; Shin Sang-gyun, Director of the Anti-Terrorism Center at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, declared 1,322,250,000 KRW; and Seok Jong-geon, Administrator of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, declared 1,041,920,000 KRW.

The current senior official with the highest declared assets is Lee Jin-sook, former president of Chungnam National University, who reported 3,943,000,000 KRW including an apartment in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, under her name, two cars under her spouse’s name, stocks and government bonds owned by her eldest daughter. Although she retired at the end of February, she is classified as an incumbent because she still holds a professorship.

The second highest asset holder among incumbents is Seo Sang-pyo, Consul General at the Consulate General in Atlanta, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who declared 3,917,940,000 KRW including land in Gangseo-gu, Busan, and buildings in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

Shin Yong-seok, Cybersecurity Secretary at the National Security Office, declared 3,812,380,000 KRW, ranking third among current officials in this asset disclosure.

Dong Seung-cheol, Deputy Secretary General of the National Unification Advisory Council, a position revived after 26 years, declared assets worth 732,780,000 KRW. He reported that his spouse and second daughter hold a total of 130,000 K-pop Click Coins (KPC) valued at 1,300,000 KRW. Virtual assets were included for the first time in the government official ethics committee’s regular asset change disclosures published in March this year.

In the Presidential Secretariat, Choi Seon, Secretary for Advanced Bio, and Ha Tae-won, Secretary for Overseas Public Relations, declared 1,222,660,000 KRW and 829,530,000 KRW respectively.

Joo Young-chang, former head of the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters, tops retirees with 8.5 billion KRW

Joo Young-chang, Director of the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters, is delivering a greeting at the 2024 Government R&D Project Joint Briefing held at the Sejong Convention Center in Sejong City on the morning of the 23rd.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Among retirees, Joo Young-chang, former head of the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters at the Ministry of Science and ICT, reported the highest assets at 8,474,590,000 KRW. His assets included deposits of 4,699,840,000 KRW, an apartment in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu worth 2,535,000,000 KRW, and securities worth 985,640,000 KRW. Joo’s father and mother refused to disclose their assets citing independent livelihood reasons.

The second highest among retirees was Bang Moon-gyu, former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, who ran unsuccessfully in the 22nd National Assembly election, reporting 7,726,600,000 KRW. Bang declared a jointly owned apartment in Seobinggo-dong, Yongsan-gu worth 2,324,000,000 KRW, a leasehold right for a medical facility in Sin-gongdeok-dong, Mapo-gu under his spouse’s name worth 200,000,000 KRW, and deposits totaling 5,127,340,000 KRW.

The third highest was Kim Hyun-sook, former Minister of Gender Equality and Family, who declared 4,312,110,000 KRW including an apartment in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu jointly owned with her spouse worth 1,780,000,000 KRW, deposits of 1,724,590,000 KRW, and securities worth 758,400,000 KRW.

Park Yoon-gyu, former 2nd Vice Minister of Science and ICT, declared 3,111,200,000 KRW, including a jointly owned apartment in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan worth 1,890,000,000 KRW and an apartment in Naseong-dong, Sejong City worth 634,000,000 KRW.