[Asset Disclosure] Assets of 362 Public Officials Revealed... Top is Noh Jaeheon, Ambassador to China, with 53 Billion Won

Disclosure of Public Officials' Assets
Choi Hwiyeong, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Tops Current Ministers
Average Assets of 2.7 Billion Won for 25 Blue House Staff Members

The Government Public Officials Ethics Committee disclosed the assets of 362 high-ranking public officials on January 30. Among those listed, the official with the highest reported assets was Noh Jaeheon, Ambassador to China.

This asset disclosure targeted high-ranking public officials who experienced a change in status, such as appointment, promotion, or retirement, between July 2 and November 1 of last year.

Yonhap News

Ambassador Noh reported a total of 53.044 billion won in assets under his and his family’s names, making him the wealthiest among those disclosed. Under his own name, he reported buildings worth over 13.2 billion won, including mixed-use buildings in Itaewon-dong and Yeonhui-dong, and a single-family house in Gugi-dong, all in Seoul. He also reported 12.618 billion won in deposits and 21.322 billion won in securities.

Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, held the second-highest amount of assets, totaling 38.488 billion won. In his own name, he owned an apartment in Umyeon-dong, Seocho-gu, commercial properties in Seongdong-gu and Jung-gu in Seoul worth about 2.952 billion won, and deposits amounting to over 31 billion won, bringing his total assets to 38.488 billion won.

Kim Daejin, former President of the Korea National University of Arts, reported assets of 34.277 billion won, ranking third. This figure increased by about 12.1 billion won from March of last year (approximately 22.1 billion won), which he attributed to savings, interest, housing reconstruction, and an increase in the valuation of unlisted stocks. Kim reported a commercial property in Banpo-dong under his spouse’s name (worth over 8 billion won), deposits of about 13.29 billion won, and securities totaling 18.408 billion won.

Among retirees, Byun Pilgeon, former Director General for Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Justice, had the highest reported assets. Byun’s assets totaled 49.537 billion won, an increase of over 1.7 billion won from his previous report. Next was Yu Inchon, former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, whose assets increased by about 600 million won to 18.377 billion won, followed by Ryu Gwangjun, former Director General for Science and Technology Innovation at the Ministry of Science and ICT, whose assets rose by about 860 million won to 15.221 billion won.

Among current ministers, Choi Hwiyeong, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, had the highest assets at 23.872 billion won. He was followed by Han Seongsook, Minister of SMEs and Startups and former CEO of Naver, with 22.115 billion won.

Among Blue House staff whose assets were disclosed, there were 25 officials, with an average asset value of 2.7 billion won.