Senior Public Officials Reveal Variety of Extraordinary Property Holdings

Employees of the personnel management ministry go over documents on personal assets, reported by senior public officials, at the government complex in Sejong, central South Korea, on March 29, 2023. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) — The Government Ethics Committee on Thursday unveiled high-ranking officials’ personal property data that included a variety of extraordinary items.

Unification minister Kwon Young-se reported three harps worth 130 million won (US$100,400) and one painting worth 30 million won that are owned under his wife’s name.

Shin Ja-yong, head of Justice Ministry’s Department of Prosecution Affairs, registered a double bass worth 63 million won that is owned under his wife’s name.

Lee Choong-myon, the new presidential secretary for foreign affairs, reported a performer level flute worth 13 million won that is owned under his daughter’s name, while Changwon National University President Lee Ho-young reported a saxophone worth 14 million won.

Park Chung-in, vice president of Hankyong National University, reported one painting from China’s Qing Dynasty worth 300 million won.

Cheong Seung-Il, CEO of the Korea Electric Power Corp., reported two 500-gram 24K gold bars worth 85 million won and a single 1 carat diamond worth 10 million won that are owned under his wife’s name.

Under an anti-corruption law, senior officials at government agencies, public institutions and national universities, as well as heads of local governments, councils and education offices are required to report the status of their assets to the committee once a year.

M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)