Hansung Sook, SME Minister Nominee, Declares 18.2 Billion Won in Assets... 44 Billion Won Including Stock Options

Reported Assets Total 18.2 Billion Won, Including Three Residential Properties in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province
Unexercised Naver Stock Options Worth 25.8 Billion Won
If Appointed, Will Be the Wealthiest Minister Since the Civilian Government

Hansung Sook, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups and former CEO of Naver, has declared assets totaling 18.214 billion won, including three residential properties. When including unexercised stock options, her total assets exceed 44 billion won. If appointed, she will become the cabinet member with the highest declared assets since the Kim Youngsam administration.

Hansung Sook, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups, is arriving at the confirmation hearing preparation office set up at Samhee Excon Venture Tower in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 24th, expressing her thoughts. 2025.06.24 Photo by Dongju Yoon

According to the request for a parliamentary confirmation hearing submitted on July 1, Hansung Sook reported personal assets in her own name amounting to 18.214 billion won. This includes approximately 10.102 billion won in real estate, about 4.113 billion won in deposits, and around 4.078 billion won in stocks.

The Naver stock options (stock purchase rights) held by Hansung Sook are valued at approximately 25.44 billion won based on the exercise price. Her restricted stock units (RSUs) are worth 439.96 million won. Including these, her total assets amount to 44.09415 billion won.

If Hansung Sook is appointed, she is expected to become the wealthiest minister since the civilian government was established in 1993. Until now, the minister with the highest declared assets was Yoo Inchon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, who declared 17.735 billion won in assets this year.

Hansung Sook holds Naver shares worth approximately 2.3 billion won. She has also declared foreign stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including Tesla (about 1.034 billion won), Apple (about 246 million won), Palantir (about 111 million won), and Nvidia (92 million won).

The residential properties owned by Hansung Sook include an apartment in Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul (about 2.74 billion won), a detached house in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu (about 1.5 billion won), and a detached house in Yangseo-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province (about 630 million won).

She also owns an officetel in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu (about 2.074 billion won), a neighborhood living facility in Yeongeon-dong, Jongno-gu (about 1.4 billion won), and land in Yangseo-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun and Gwangsa-dong, Yangju-si, Gyeonggi Province. She has also declared a 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLK220 CDI 4Matic (2,143cc), a 2011 Kia Sportage (1,995cc), gold (about 11 million won), and cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Bitcoin (about 19 million won).

Hansung Sook joined Empas as a founding member in 1997. In 2007, she served as Head of the Search Business Division and Head of the Naver Service Division at NHN, the predecessor of Naver, before becoming the first female CEO of Naver in 2017, a position she held for about five years.

In 2006, while serving as Head of the Search Service Division at the portal site Empas, Hansung Sook was fined 10 million won and had assets confiscated for violating the Information and Communications Network Act (including the distribution of obscene materials). At that time, prosecutors conducted a large-scale investigation into the mass distribution of adult content provided by portal sites in 2005 and summarily indicted Hansung Sook.