Seoul District Heads' Real Estate Assets Total 1.4 Billion KRW, 4.8 Times National Average

Real Estate Assets of 25 Seoul District Mayors Total 1.43 Billion Won
One in Three Homeowners Owns Two or More Properties

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] A survey revealed that the real estate assets per basic local government head in Seoul are more than four times the national average. One out of three basic local government heads who own houses were multi-homeowners.

According to the "Analysis of Real Estate Reported Assets of Seoul District Mayors" released on the 18th by the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), the total real estate assets reported by all 25 district mayors in Seoul amounted to 35.8 billion KRW, averaging 1.43 billion KRW per person. This accounts for 85% of their total assets of 41.9 billion KRW, which is 4.8 times the national average real estate asset of 300 million KRW.

Among the 25 district mayors, 18 (72%) owned houses. Of these, 6 (25%) were reported to own two or more homes when combining their own and their spouse's properties. Among them, 4 owned two houses each, and the remaining 2 owned four houses each. Seven (29%) were without homes.

The district mayor with the highest reported real estate value was Kim Young-jong of Jongno-gu, with 7.6 billion KRW (89%) of his total reported assets of 8.5 billion KRW in real estate. He was followed by Jung Soon-gyun of Gangnam-gu (7 billion KRW), Cho Eun-hee of Seocho-gu (5 billion KRW), Sung Jang-hyun of Yongsan-gu (2.48 billion KRW), and Moon Seok-jin of Seodaemun-gu (1.8 billion KRW).

Among all district mayors, the 13 who owned apartments and officetels reported assets totaling 11.8 billion KRW, which was found to be 58% lower than actual market prices. Additionally, the real estate asset values of district mayors owning apartments increased by an average of 510 million KRW (47%) during the three years of the Moon Jae-in administration, rising from 1.08 billion KRW to 1.59 billion KRW in market value. The average reported value was 910 million KRW, but reflecting actual market prices, it amounted to 1.58 billion KRW.

CCEJ stated, "To ensure transparent asset disclosure by high-ranking public officials, we plan to expand the scope of monitoring and reporting violations, prepare related legislative amendments, and promote legislative campaigns."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.