Park Sooyoung Questions How Lee Hyehoon's Three Sons Paid Gift Tax Before Employment

Lee Hyehoon's Three Sons Hold Over 1 Billion Won in Stocks
Paid Over 100 Million Won in Gift Tax in 2021
Park Sooyoung: "Was the Source of the Gift Tax a 'Mommy Chance'?"

As the assets of Lee Hyehoon, nominee for Minister of Planning and Budget, totaling approximately 17.5 billion won, were made public, suspicions have been raised regarding the wealth of her three sons. Park Sooyoung, secretary of the People Power Party on the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee, posted on his social media account on the 6th under the title "Gift Tax Suspicion for Three Privileged Sons," urging, "The nominee must clarify the suspicions regarding her children's gift tax."

Park Sooyoung, a member of the People Power Party, raised suspicions of a 'mommy chance' gift tax related to the inheritance of her three sons against Lee Hyehoon, the nominee for Minister of Planning and Budget. Photo by The Asia Business Daily

Park stated, "The details of the gift tax payments by the three sons are suspicious," and added, "It is said that in May 2021, each of the nominee's three sons paid 43 million won in gift tax, totaling 129 million won. However, at that time, the eldest was only 30, the second son was 28, and the youngest was just 24 years old. None of them had started working yet, so where did they get the money to pay such a large amount in gift tax? Was the source of the gift tax perhaps a 'mommy chance'?"

He continued, "The wealth of the three sons is also out of touch with what ordinary citizens would expect." He explained, "The eldest son is in his third year as a researcher at a government-funded institute, yet his assets exceed 1.7 billion won. The second son is an employee with an annual salary of around 30 million won, but his assets also amount to 1.7 billion won. The youngest, who does not appear to be employed yet, has reported stock holdings alone worth over 1.2 billion won." He further argued, "In particular, the second son received land and a house in Dongdaemun-gu from his grandmother last year, which he does not actually reside in. This is highly problematic because the area has been designated for redevelopment, with a major construction company planning to build a 35-story apartment complex. The nominee herself highlighted the necessity of redevelopment in this area and made it a campaign pledge during the 21st general election, raising significant concerns about a conflict of interest."

He also stated, "The nominee's assets, which have surged by more than 11 billion won to reach 17.5 billion won, nearly 10 billion won in unlisted family stocks, the enormous wealth and gifts to her sons who are just starting their careers, the opaque details of their gift tax payments, the three sons' investments in high-interest lending companies, and a luxury apartment valued at 8 billion won-all of these are full of suspicions that ordinary citizens simply cannot understand." He called for the nominee's voluntary resignation.

Park further criticized, "The nominee has treated her aides in their 20s and 30s like 'stone spoons,' subjecting them to harsh words, shouting, and power abuse. Yet, her three sons are 'privileged gold spoons' who have benefited from gifts, and there have even been reports that her aides were made to run trivial errands for them. This goes beyond public annoyance and incites genuine anger."

Lee Hyehoon, nominee for Minister of Planning and Budget, met with experts from academia and research institutions related to fiscal management on the 6th to discuss future policy directions. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Previously, the nominee reported total assets of 17,569,520,000 won under her own, her spouse's, and her children's names. This is an increase of about 11.3 billion won compared to the 6,291,160,000 won she reported before resigning from the National Assembly in 2020. In particular, the total value of securities held by her family amounts to 12,179,370,000 won. All three children each hold more than 1 billion won in stocks, and it was found that they have all purchased shares in Korea Investment & Securities and KSM.

Amid allegations of power abuse against her aides and now controversy over her assets, the nominee demonstrated her intention to confront the issues head-on by meeting with experts from academia and research institutions related to fiscal management on the 6th to discuss future policy directions. Her camp stated, "The internal and external circumstances are more severe than ever," and emphasized, "It is a time when fiscal policy must play a proactive role as a priming force." She was quoted as saying, "My consistent belief is that fiscal policy must fulfill its role when needed," and added, "I will make the realization of responsible and active fiscal management my final mission as a public official."