DJ's Residence Worth 10 Billion Won... The Most Expensive Presidential Residence Ever Sold [News Seolcham]

(31) Historic Spaces, Presidential Residences
Kim Hong-gul Sells DJ Residence to Pay Inheritance Tax
Person Who Bought 3 Former Presidential Residences of Lee, Park, and Moon

Editor's Note'Seolcham' is a newly coined term meaning to refer to detailed explanations. In [News Seolcham], we aim to pinpoint and explain in more detail the parts of the news that require fact-checking or further explanation.

The news that the Donggyo-dong residence, known as the late former President Kim Dae-jung's (DJ) home, has been sold has sparked interest in the residences of past presidents. These residences are spaces where presidents lived and hold high historical value as they are connected to modern political history, including democratization movements and impeachments.

Former President Park Geun-hye currently resides at her residence in Dalseong County, Daegu, but all her previous residences in Seoul have been sold. The residence in Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, which Park purchased in April 2017, is a detached house located within a residential complex adjacent to Guryongsan Mountain. It has a total area of 517㎡, with a land area of 406㎡, and consists of one basement floor and two above-ground floors. Since Park was detained at the time of purchase, she reportedly never actually lived there. When Park voluntarily did not pay fines and penalties related to the state affairs manipulation scandal, the prosecution proceeded with seizure, putting the property on the real estate market.

The former residence of former President Park Geun-hye located in Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The sale of the Naegok-dong residence attracted attention because the buyer was the entertainment agency IOK Company. At that time, the agency represented famous actors such as the late Go Hyun-jung and Jo In-sung, and it is known that the house was used as a set for film shoots after the purchase. IOK Company won the bid for the land and building of Park's residence through a court auction in September 2021 and completed the ownership transfer in October of the same year. The winning bid was approximately 3.86 billion KRW, and the residence was reportedly put back on the market at the end of last year.

The news of the sale of Park's other residence in Samseong-dong drew attention due to its unique buyer. The Samseong-dong residence was where Park lived from 1990 until February 2013 before entering the Blue House as president-elect, and it was sold in 2017 for 6.75 billion KRW. The buyer was Hong Sung-yeol, chairman of Mario Outlet.

Chairman Hong purchased not only Park's residence but also the residences of former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Moon Jae-in, owning a total of three former presidential residences. When the Korea Asset Management Corporation put Lee's residence in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, up for public auction in July 2021 to recover unpaid fines and penalties, Hong won the bid at 11.156 billion KRW. The Nonhyeon-dong residence has an area of 673㎡ and consists of one basement floor and three above-ground floors. In 2022, he also purchased Moon's pre-inauguration residence in Maegok-dong, Yangsan-si, Gyeongnam Province, for about 2.6 billion KRW. Former President Moon currently resides in Pyeongsan Village, Yangsan-si.

However, Chairman Hong has not provided a specific reason for purchasing three presidential residences and has briefly stated in various media interviews that it was not for political reasons.

President Moon Jae-in and First Lady's residence in Pyeongsan Village, Jisan-ri, Habuk-myeon, Yangsan-si, Gyeongnam.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Former President Chun Doo-hwan's residence in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, was originally owned by his wife Lee Soon-ja and daughter-in-law, who divided ownership of the main house, garden land, and annex. Although it was seized and auctioned in 2018 due to unpaid penalties, Lee Soon-ja won an administrative lawsuit claiming that putting the residence up for public auction to recover unpaid penalties was unjust, and thus regained ownership. Former President Roh Tae-woo's residence in Yeonhui-dong, located about a 5-7 minute walk from Chun's residence, is owned by his wife Kim Ok-sook.

Meanwhile, the issue of the sale of former President Kim Dae-jung's Donggyo-dong residence is expected to continue for some time. On the 2nd, Kim Hong-gul, Kim's son and former Democratic Party lawmaker, sparked controversy by selling the residence for 10 billion KRW to pay a large inheritance tax. Senior members of the Donggyo-dong faction, including Park Ji-won, a former secretary to Kim and current Democratic Party lawmaker, stated that selling such a historic space to the general public is inappropriate and said they would seek ways to repurchase it. The Kim Dae-jung Foundation is also considering ways to buy back the residence.

The reason they emphasize the need to repurchase the residence is that former President Kim spent most of his political journey there, including running in three presidential elections and enduring 55 house arrests during the democratization movement period. The term 'Donggyo-dong faction,' referring to the political group aligned with Kim, also originated from this place.