Kim Jo-won on 'High-Priced Property' Sparks Controversy Over Sexist Remark by Blue House: "Men Don't Understand Well"

Ha Tae-kyung Criticizes, "Using Wife as an Excuse When at a Disadvantage... Unfit to Handle State Affairs"

Kim Jo-won, Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] The Blue House sparked controversy by making a sexist remark during the explanation of Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim Jowon's high-priced listing at Galleria Palace in Jamsil, saying, "Generally, men do not know much about real estate prices."

A senior Blue House official told reporters on the 6th that in response to criticism that Secretary Kim listed the apartment at a price 200 to 400 million KRW higher than the market value, raising doubts about his intention to sell, "When I asked Secretary Kim, I was told that it was listed through a real estate agency," adding, "I do not know in detail whether he himself or his wife listed it."

This patriarchal perception of the senior Blue House official was criticized as not only outdated but also an attempt to evade responsibility by Secretary Kim, who is the party responsible for disposing of multiple homes. On the 7th, Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the Future United Party, criticized on Facebook, "Does the Blue House have a response manual that says 'Blame your wife if it’s disadvantageous'?" He questioned, "Are they claiming that all speculators are women? If so, this is a serious misogynistic remark." He continued, "Listing the property at a high price to gain more capital gains and then blaming the wife when it doesn’t sell shows that a person who cannot manage their own real estate and blames their wife is unfit to handle state affairs."

Earlier, Secretary Kim held out almost until the deadline for disposal set by Chief Secretary Noh Young-min (end of July) before listing one of his two apartments in Jamsil. This year, apartments of the same size were generally traded between 1.6 billion and 1.8 billion KRW, except for the highest-floor listing (46th floor at 1.99 billion KRW). However, Secretary Kim listed his apartment at a much higher price of 2.2 billion KRW, leading to criticism that he was only pretending to dispose of it. After this fact became known, it was reported that Secretary Kim’s side immediately withdrew the listing.

Secretary Kim purchased the apartment under his wife’s name in September 2001. Although the purchase price was not specified, the per-pyeong price of Galleria Palace in Jamsil at the time of sale in 2001 was between 8 million and 12 million KRW per pyeong for apartments. In the regular asset disclosure for high-ranking officials in March, Secretary Kim reported a value of 920 million KRW. Considering the current market price, a capital gain of about 1 billion KRW is expected.

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