[Public Officials' Asset Disclosure] Among the 1st Term Ministers and Vice Ministers of the Yoon Government, Kim So-Young Tops with 29.2 Billion KRW in Assets

Most of Vice Chairman Kim's Assets Are Unlisted Stocks
Second Place Minister Lee Jong-ho Reports 16 Billion KRW
Average Reported Amount for Ministerial and Vice Ministerial Officials Is 4.6 Billion KRW
Prime Minister Han Reports 8.5 Billion KRW

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Among the first-term senior public officials at the ministerial and vice-ministerial levels in the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the person who reported the highest amount of assets was Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, who declared assets worth approximately 29.2 billion KRW. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo reported assets totaling 8.5 billion KRW.

Additionally, the average assets of ministerial and vice-ministerial officials appointed in the first month of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration were calculated to be 4.6 billion KRW.

The Public Service Ethics Committee disclosed on the 26th in the electronic official gazette the asset registration details reported by 39 senior public officials at the ministerial and vice-ministerial levels appointed in May.

Vice Chairman Kim reported total assets of approximately 29.2 billion KRW. The valuation of her shares in the unlisted company Jungang Shipping, totaling 210,687 shares (29.26% stake), accounted for 72% of her total assets, amounting to 20.9 billion KRW.

Jungang Shipping, established in 1975, is a shipping company co-represented by Kim’s father, Chairman Kim Dong-gi (7.85% stake), and her brother, President Kim Ji-young (59.05%), making it a family company. Vice Chairman Kim has requested a review of the job-relatedness of her Jungang Shipping shares from the Stock Blind Trust Review Committee of the Ministry of Personnel Management. The ministry is currently conducting the review.

The person with the second-largest assets is Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT. Minister Lee reported assets totaling approximately 16.04 billion KRW.

Most of Minister Lee’s assets are deposits in his name, with approximately 11.59 billion KRW held across nine financial institutions. As a world-renowned authority in the semiconductor field, Minister Lee explained during the confirmation hearing that most of his assets come from patent income.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among the total assets of approximately 8.5 billion KRW reported by Prime Minister Han, the largest portion was deposits, with the Prime Minister himself holding about 3.27 billion KRW and his spouse about 1.9 billion KRW, totaling approximately 5.18 billion KRW.

Real estate included a detached house in Jongno-gu, Seoul, valued at approximately 2.75 billion KRW, and a forest land in Unyeon-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, registered under his spouse’s name, valued at about 76 million KRW.

Prime Minister Han and his spouse also reported owning memberships worth approximately 220 million KRW, including two golf club memberships, one Chosun Hotel health club membership, and one condominium membership.

The average declared assets of these officials were approximately 4.58 billion KRW. Notably, among the 39 ministerial and vice-ministerial appointees, all except Food and Drug Safety Minister Oh Yu-kyung reported owning at least one personal residence. Among them, 18 ministers and vice ministers declared ownership of apartments in the so-called Gangnam 3 districts?Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa-gu.

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