DJ's Donggyo-dong Residence Sold for 10 Billion Won... Kim Hong-gul Says "Due to Huge Inheritance Tax"

Buyers Plan to Preserve Part of the Space for Displaying Personal Belongings

The former President Kim Dae-jung (DJ)'s residence in Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, has reportedly been sold for 10 billion won.

On the 30th, Yonhap News reported, "The ownership of the Donggyo-dong residence was transferred earlier this month from Kim Hong-gul, the third son and former member of the Democratic Party of Korea, to three individuals including Park." According to the report, the transaction amount, including the land and the house, was 10 billion won. The three buyers jointly own the shares in a 6:2:2 ratio, and it was revealed that they purchased the residence with a mortgage of 9.6 billion won from a bank. The three buyers share the same address.

Former President Kim Dae-jung (left) and the late Mrs. Lee Hee-ho.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim, the former owner and ex-lawmaker, told Yonhap News in a phone interview, "Due to the large inheritance tax issue and pressure from the tax office, I had no choice but to decide to sell it last year," adding, "This is purely a private matter." He continued, "The buyers promised to preserve part of the residence space to exhibit the late president's belongings, for which I am grateful," and said, "Although we could not establish a DJ Memorial Hall, we plan to create exhibition spaces for his belongings in Mokpo and one location in the Seoul metropolitan area."

Kim, who entered the National Assembly as a proportional representative in the 21st general election, was expelled from the party in 2020 following controversies over the gift of a Gangnam apartment to his second son in his twenties and allegations of undeclared assets, but was reinstated in July last year. However, in the same month, he sparked another controversy by revealing in the full disclosure of lawmakers' virtual asset holdings that he had invested 260 million won in virtual assets to prepare for inheritance tax.

Former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Hong-gul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Donggyo-dong residence is where former President Kim moved in 1961 and spent most of his political life until his passing in August 2009. The term 'Donggyo-dong faction' also originated here. During the military dictatorship era, he was placed under house arrest at this residence 55 times. However, after the late Lee Hee-ho, who lived in Donggyo-dong, passed away in June 2019, a family inheritance dispute arose when Kim, the former lawmaker, claimed ownership of the Donggyo-dong residence and the remaining Nobel Prize money (800 million won).

Lee had willed that the Donggyo-dong residence be used as the "Kim Dae-jung and Lee Hee-ho Memorial Hall." She stated that if a local government or sponsors purchase it for use as a memorial hall, one-third of the compensation would be donated to the Kim Dae-jung Memorial Foundation, and the remaining two-thirds would be equally divided among Kim Hong-il, Hong Up, and Hong-gul.

However, Kim, the former lawmaker, argued that there were issues with the will's format, such as missing notarization procedures, and claimed that as the only biological child of Lee under civil law, he should inherit the residence. In response, Kim Hong-up, the second son and director of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center, filed an injunction in January 2020 to prohibit the disposal of the residence. Later, in June 2020, on the second anniversary of Lee's passing, Director Kim and the former lawmaker met at the residence and agreed to honor the late's wishes, temporarily resolving the dispute.