₩7 Billion in Real Estate Held by President’s “40-Year Confidant,” Policy Adviser Lee Han-joo

[Choice Times=Soo-Young Park, Lawmaker, People Power Party]

President Lee Jae-myung has posted yet another message on social media. This time, he took direct aim at single-home owners and even foreshadowed a “property tax nuclear bomb.”

“Even single-home owners who hold property for investment or speculation will find selling more advantageous than holding.”
“Ultra-high-priced homes will face burdens and regulations commensurate with those of capital cities in advanced countries.”

The remark made last year by the Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy—“If you levy ₩50 million in taxes every year on a ₩5 billion home, people won’t be able to endure it”—was clearly not an empty threat.

While talking about single-home owners, President Lee replaced the term he had previously used, “non-owner-occupied,” with a new expression: “investment or speculative use.” This is a convenient semantic trick to protect his own 59-pyeong Bundang apartment worth ₩3 billion.

The president’s apartment alone has generated an unrealized capital gain of roughly ₩2.7 billion. He claims it is for his own residence, but that makes no sense. When he ran for the National Assembly seat in Gyeyang, Incheon, he refused to sell the apartment until the very end and repeatedly reversed his statements—clear evidence that it was an investment or speculative asset.

The claim that it will be his residence after leaving office is also implausible. A former president living in an apartment surrounded by security would only be a nuisance to local residents.

Before posting on social media, President Lee should first look around him. The disclosed assets of Lee Han-joo, the president’s special policy adviser and his so-called “40-year confidant,” perfectly exemplify the hypocrisy of the Lee administration.

Lee Han-joo reported total assets of ₩7.578 billion: a Cheongdam-dong apartment presale right valued at around ₩7 billion, his spouse’s stake in a Bundang apartment, shares in five commercial properties and buildings owned by his spouse and son, a factory and road owned by his second son, and approximately 2,500 pyeong of farmland and forest land across Gyeonggi Province owned by the couple. This is befitting of what can only be described as a “final boss of real estate speculation”—someone who bought commercial properties as Children’s Day gifts for his sons and even set up a father-and-sons real estate company.

President Lee has also warned that he will conduct a comprehensive investigation into farmland and force the sale of land that is not being farmed. If so, shouldn’t the first place to investigate be the land owned by his closest policy adviser, Lee Han-joo?

Owning a home is not a crime. Especially for ordinary citizens who have lived diligently and managed to own just one home, there is no reason to be subjected to the Lee administration’s “tax nuclear bomb.” The president should sell his own home first and cut loose his “40-year-confidant speculator” before lecturing the public.

#PropertyTaxShock #RealEstateHypocrisy #OneHomeOwners