It has been revealed that Lee Dong-gwan, a candidate for the chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, who has a fortune of 5.1 billion won, has greatly increased his fortune by investing in reconstructed apartments in Gangnam and Seocho-gu, Seoul. During this process, Candidate Lee gave his wife a suspicious ‘gift to split shares’, but he did not even report it as a change in property. Following the history of ‘suspicion of son’s school violence’ and ‘domination of broadcasting’, the controversy over Lee’s qualifications is expected to intensify.
According to the request for a confirmation hearing for Candidate Lee submitted to the National Assembly on the 2nd, the total amount reported by Lee, including the assets of his wife and three children, is 5.175 billion won. It is three times higher than the reported property (1.65759 million won) in 2010 when he was the chief public relations chief of the Blue House.
In the meantime, Lee seems to have made a fortune, especially in real estate investing. A typical example is the S apartment in Jamwon-dong, Seocho-gu. Candidate Lee moved into an apartment in Jamwon-dong, Seocho-gu in April 2001, and then moved into a newly purchased apartment s four months later. At the time, the market price of S apartments was known to be between 400 million and 500 million won. Candidate Lee lived here for about 5 years, and for the next 10 years, he only rented and owned it. In 2010, when registering the property of a public official, the apartment was reported at 968 million won. Reconstruction of the S apartment was promoted in 2010 and completed in 2019, and this candidate sold the apartment for 3.19 billion won in November of that year, and it seems that he earned a market profit of more than 2 billion won even at a rough estimate.
The problem is that in April 2010, a month after the S Apartment Reconstruction Association was formed, candidate Lee handed over 1% of the apartment shares he owned to his wife. 1% stake is the minimum condition to qualify as a representative of the Reconstruction Association. Candidate Lee did not report the fact of such a share transfer when he resigned from the Blue House Public Relations Office in July of that year. When a public official who is obligated to register property under the Public Service Ethics Act retires, he or she must report the change in property from the period of regular property registration to the date of retirement.
Gaepo Xi Residence Apartment (114.8㎡ 먹튀검증for exclusive use) in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where Lee currently resides, is a similar case. Candidate Lee bought the Gaepo Jugong Apartment (previous name), which is about to be reconstructed, in 2016 with his wife in half for 1 billion won. The current reported value is 1.5 billion won and the market price is 4.3 billion won. More than half of the purchase cost was covered by loans. This apartment received approval for the management and disposal plan (plan for distribution of land and buildings to be sold to union members) the following year when Candidate Lee purchased the apartment, and was completed earlier this year, and candidate Lee had never lived in the apartment before it was reconstructed.
As for other assets, candidate Lee reported that the combined amount of deposits of himself (1.55 billion won) and his wife (894.09 million won), a housewife, was 2.44 billion won. As for stocks, candidate Lee holds 418.64 million won and her wife holds 187.61 million won, respectively. The candidate couple has collected new dividend income in the past three years without a special job. In 2020, candidate Lee himself earned 60.85 million won and his wife earned 39.8 million won in dividend income, and in 2021, 170.11 million won each (candidate Lee) 139.21 million won (wife), last year earned 68.2 million won (candidate Lee) and 55.7 million won (wife).
Candidate Lee’s children, who are in their 20s and 30s, also have deposits and stocks worth more than 100 million won. Candidate Lee’s eldest daughter (34) and second daughter (33), who reported being “unemployed,” each have deposits of 64.93 million won and deposits and stocks of 149.9 million won, but the source has not been confirmed and there is no record of gift tax payment on paper. The son (28), who got a job, holds deposits and stocks of 188.29 million won, and paid about 10 million won of gift tax last year.
The opposition party is urging the withdrawal of the appointment, saying that candidate Lee is ‘disqualified’ in terms of morality and professionalism. Hong Seong-guk, floor spokesperson of the Minjoo Party of Korea, said in a commentary that day, “The president’s desire to oppress critical media, appoint Lee Dong-gwan as the head of the broadcasting control committee, and ‘openly dominate the media’ is a dream that cannot be realized.” ”he said. On the other hand, the power of the people went out to cover this candidate, saying it was’baseless accusation’. Jang Dong-hyuk, spokesman for People’s Power, said, “The Democratic Party is pouring unfounded accusations against this candidate even before the hearing begins.” did.