President Lee reports 1.8 billion won increase

Mar 26, 2026, 09:28 am

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Lee Jae-myung spoke during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on March 24. / Yonhap News

Lee Jae-myung reported total assets of about 4.98 billion won ($4.9 million), marking an increase of roughly 1.88 billion won over the past year, according to official disclosures released Thursday.

Data published by the Government Public Ethics Committee showed that Lee’s assets as of Dec. 31 reached 4.9772 billion won, up from 3.0891 billion won a year earlier.

The increase was largely driven by a rise in deposits, which grew from around 1.58 billion won to 3.06 billion won. A significant portion came from royalties related to Lee’s book “The People Ultimately Decide.” Lee reported about 1.56 billion won in royalties, while First Lady Kim Hye-kyung reported about 6 million won.

Real estate assets also increased to about 2.3 billion won, up roughly 350 million won from the previous year, mainly due to a rise in the officially assessed value of the couple’s jointly owned apartment in Bundang.

Cash holdings rose by about 250 million won, attributed to events such as family occasions. In addition, a condominium membership saw a slight increase in value, while Lee’s eldest son reported holding virtual assets worth around 40 million won.

Meanwhile, senior staff at the presidential office reported average assets of approximately 2.75 billion won.

Among 48 senior aides, the largest reported assets belonged to legal affairs secretary Lee Jang-hyung, who declared 13.41 billion won, with an increase of about 4.4 billion won largely driven by gains in Tesla stock.

Public relations secretary Lee Min-joo reported the second-largest assets at 7.98 billion won, followed by National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac (6.14 billion won), presidential spokesperson Kim Sang-ho (5.99 billion won), and civil affairs secretary Lee Tae-hyung (5.9 billion won).

The largest increase in assets was reported by AI future planning senior secretary Ha Jung-woo, whose wealth rose by about 1.39 billion won, reflecting severance pay and stock sales from Naver.

In contrast, public relations planning secretary Cho Han-sang reported a decrease of about 5.5 billion won to 4 billion won after excluding parental assets from his declaration.

The aide with the smallest reported assets was senior secretary Jeon Sung-hwan, with about 310 million won, while chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik reported 810 million won, placing him among the lower ranks.

#Lee Jae-myung #assets disclosure #South Korea president