Prime minister nominee reduces holdings to one home

Prime minister nominee Han Seong-sook has reduced her real estate holdings to a single home after facing scrutiny over owning multiple properties.

Han's confirmation hearing team said Tuesday that she had sold two additional properties following the sale of her Jamsil apartment in May and now owns only a residence in Seoul's Samcheong-dong. The properties sold were an officetel in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, valued at 1.5 billion won, and a country home in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, valued at 500 million won. Final payments were completed Monday and Tuesday, respectively. The team said the Jamsil apartment was sold below market value, while both the Yeoksam officetel and the Yangpyeong property were sold for less than their purchase prices.

Han previously sold her apartment in Seoul's Jamsil neighborhood for 5.2 billion won, completing the ownership transfer on May 27. She bought the property in 2006 for 2.25 billion won. Of the proceeds from the sale, she donated 500 million won to an international relief and development organization on June 15. Han said she recognizes the weight of public office and intends to set an example by following the government's housing policy direction.

The People Power Party renewed its call for Han's nomination to be withdrawn. Speaking at a parliamentary strategy meeting, Secretary-General Jeong Hui-yong noted that Han owned four homes until recently and argued that she fell short of the standard President Lee Jae-myung had set for public officials. Jeong recalled Lee's earlier remark that even staff responsible only for copying documents should be excluded from real estate policymaking if they own multiple homes. "By that standard, Han should not be involved in housing policy, much less oversee it," he said. Jeong also stepped up criticism over a personal data leak tied to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' "Everyone's Startup" program, arguing that those responsible should face punitive penalties and class-action lawsuits.


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