Suspicion of Under-the-Table Apartment Deal by Candidate Im Hye-sook and Spouse... "Not for Tax Evasion or Speculation"

Minister Nominee Im Hye-sook
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] Allegations have emerged that the spouse of Im Hye-sook, nominee for Minister of Science and ICT, evaded taxes by drafting two separate under-the-table contracts when buying and selling an apartment in Daebang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul in the past.

On the 1st, Jeong Hee-yong, a member of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee from the People Power Party, revealed the ‘Real Estate Transaction Report’ received from Im’s side. According to the report, Im’s spouse bought a Hyundai Apartment in Daebang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul on November 26, 1998, for 90 million KRW and sold it six years later for 80 million KRW.

Jeong claimed that at the time of purchase, the apartment’s standard price was 110 million KRW and the actual transaction price was estimated between 180 million and 200 million KRW, suggesting that an under-the-table contract was made lowering the purchase price by about 100 million KRW to evade acquisition and registration taxes.

He also pointed out the act of selling the apartment for 80 million KRW, which is 10 million KRW lower than the purchase price six years earlier. Jeong argued that since the price of apartments in Daebang-dong, Seoul, could not have dropped by 10 million KRW over six years, this was another under-the-table contract to help the buyer evade taxes.

Furthermore, Jeong claimed that Im purchased the Seocho Raemian Apartment in Seocho-dong, Seoul in 2004 for speculative real estate purposes.

According to the details, Im and her husband jointly purchased the Seocho Raemian Apartment on September 7, 2004, for 332 million KRW, and sold it on November 5, 2014, ten years later, for 935 million KRW, making a capital gain of about 600 million KRW.

However, the address change records show that Im and her spouse only lived in the apartment for 10 months during the more than 10-year period. Jeong said, “Investing in real estate for speculative purposes rather than actual residence and making a capital gain of 600 million KRW is against public sentiment,” adding, “I will thoroughly investigate the process of real estate wealth formation through speculation and the two instances of under-the-table contracts at the hearing.”

Im rebutted through reference materials, stating, “The Hyundai Apartment in Daebang-dong was bought and sold before the real estate transaction reporting obligation system was implemented (January 1, 2006),” and “It was handled by entrusting a licensed real estate agent or other representative according to the real estate practices at the time. It was not intended to evade or support tax evasion.”

She also added, “When selling, the transaction was properly reported at the actual sale price of 935 million KRW in accordance with the real estate transaction reporting obligation system.” If this explanation is correct, the capital gain over 10 years is about 235 million KRW, not 600 million KRW.

Im stated, “I first became aware of the underreporting during the preparation for the hearing,” and “I deeply regret that I did not properly check the reported amounts in past transactions, which was entirely my fault.”

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