High-ranking officials' wealth dips due to real estate

Over half of Korea's high-ranking public officials saw their personal wealth decrease in the past year amid a real estate slowdown, according to an annual report by the state ethics committee.

Korean Deputy Finance Minister for International Affairs Choi Ji-young, left, poses with his Japanese counterpart Masato Kanda after their meeting at the Japanese Finance Ministry in Tokyo on March 8. Choi is the richest Korean official listed in the annual report released by the Government Ethics Committee on Thursday. [FINANCE MINISTRY]

Over half of Korea's high-ranking public officials saw their personal wealth decrease in the past year amid a real estate slowdown, according to an annual report by the state ethics committee.

The report also showed that high-ranking officials serving in both central and regional government roles still own over 1.9 billion won ($1.4 million) in personal and family assets on average.

The data, which was made public in a report released by the Government Ethics Committee on Thursday, was compiled based on declarations of personal and family-owned assets.

Annual declarations of personal wealth are mandatory for the 1,975 officials serving in top-tier government positions under the Public Service Ethics Act.

Officials who must report their assets to the committee under the law include the president, prime minister, senior government officials, directors of state agencies, heads of public institutions and national universities, regional government chiefs and local councilors.

According to the committee, 997 officials, or 50.5 percent, reported a decrease in their net wealth compared to the previous year, while 978 said their net wealth appreciated.

Approximately one in three officials, or 592, said they owned more than 2 billion won in total assets, while 570 said they owned between 1 and 2 billion won. Only 77 officials said their net wealth was less than 100 million won.

Fluctuations in real estate prices were the main drivers of decreases in officials’ net wealth.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, who reported assets worth a total of 7.4 billion won, saw his net wealth decrease by 216 million won.

Most of the president’s personal wealth is tied to his personal residence in Seocho District, southern Seoul, in addition to property and deposits owned by first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo reported a net wealth of 8.3 billion won, which is 200 million won less than the previous year.

The richest man in the Cabinet is Science Minister Lee Jong-ho, who made his name as one of Korea’s foremost semiconductor experts. Lee reported a net wealth of 10.7 billion won, which is 4 billion won less than last year.

The richest regional government chiefs listed in the report are Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon, who reported total assets worth 5.9 billion won and 5.6 billion won.

The richest official surveyed by the Government Ethics Committee was Choi Ji-young, the Finance Ministry’s deputy minister for international affairs, whose net wealth was 49.4 billion won.

The next-richest man listed in the report was Gangnam District chief Cho Sung-myung, whose net wealth was 48.9 billion won.

The Government Ethics Committee will examine the data submitted by officials until the end of June to check for any irregularities in changes to personal wealth.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]