Officially Assessed Home Prices of Conglomerate Heads⑧
From Reconstructed Villas in Seocho-dong to Performance Hall Buildings in Daehak-ro

[비즈한국] The Fair Trade Commission has announced the '2024 Status of Large Business Group Designations.' Among the top 10 groups by assets, there are no changes other than the swapped rankings of HD Hyundai267250 and GS007890. With the recent growth of new industries such as secondary batteries and online retail, Ecopro086520 has been newly included in the list of business groups subject to disclosure, and Coupang has jumped 18 spots (from 45th to 27th). Seven business groups were newly designated, including Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, Youngone, Daishin Securities003540, HYBE, Sono International, Wonik, and Paradise, while Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering was excluded.

The Fair Trade Commission has designated a total of 78 individuals as "persons" (heads of groups). Due to revised guidelines, Coupang (Kim Bom-suk) and Dunamu (Song Chi-hyung) are now designated as corporations rather than individuals. BizHankook investigated the officially assessed home prices of the 78 conglomerate heads designated as individual persons. In this installment, we reveal the homes of conglomerate heads belonging to the semi-large business groups: Eugene, Youngone, DN, Koryo HC, OK Financial, BGF, Daishin Securities, and Nongshim.

Eugene: Yu Kyung-sun

Chairman Yu Kyung-sun has lived for 35 years in a single-family home (land area of 467.34㎡, building floor area of 377.89㎡) consisting of one basement floor and two floors above ground, which was built on the Itaewon hillside, the nation’s largest wealthy neighborhood, in 1989. In 2014, he gifted a one-tenth stake to his wife, Koo Geum-sook, and in May 2018, the property was subject to a 10 billion won attachment claim filed by former Hi-Mart founder Seon Jong-koo. This year, the individual home's officially assessed price was valued at 5.347 billion won.

Meanwhile, Chairman Yu’s younger brother, Eugene Home Center CEO Yu Sun-tae, and his eldest son, Eugene Welfare Foundation Chairman Yu Seok-hoon, live in Nine One Hannam. In March 2021, CEO Yu purchased a 4th-floor unit (exclusive area 244.35㎡, supply area 293.93㎡) for 5.02 billion won, while Chairman Yu Seok-hoon purchased a 6th-floor unit in a different building (exclusive area 206.9㎡, supply area 248.84㎡) for 4.3 billion won. His eldest daughter, Yu Jung-min, has been living in a 9th-floor unit at Hannam The Hill, located across from Nine One Hannam (exclusive area 59.69㎡, supply area 87.05㎡), which she purchased in April 2015 for 1.15 billion won.

Youngone: Sung Ki-hak

Chairman Sung Ki-hak has his resident registration at a performance hall building in the heart of Daehak-ro, near Hyehwa Station on Subway Line 4. He purchased the mixed-use building (land area 777.48㎡, building floor area 3,672.99㎡), which spans four basement floors and six floors above ground, located in Dongsung-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, in 2000. The top two floors of this building are zoned as "single-family housing," and Chairman Sung filed his move-in notification here. The area is 190.75㎡ on the 5th floor and 86㎡ on the 6th floor, totaling 84 pyeong. Currently, other floors are occupied by neighborhood living facilities such as a performance hall, restaurants, and medical clinics. It is understood that he rents out this space for profit. The officially assessed price of this home this year is 985 million won.

DN: Kim Sang-heon

Chairman Kim Sang-heon resides in Traum House 3 near Seoripul Park in Seocho-dong, a rare place in downtown Seoul where one can enjoy green spaces. It is understood that after purchasing a 5th-6th floor duplex unit (exclusive area 273.86㎡, supply area 377.81㎡) under joint ownership with his wife in February 2015 for 4.9 billion won, he moved here from Tower Palace in Dogok-dong. Chairman Kim holds a 43/49 stake, and his wife, Lee Sun-young, holds 6/49. The unit consists of 6 rooms and 3 bathrooms, and its officially assessed apartment price this year is 4.156 billion won. Recent market prices range from 5.5 billion to 6.4 billion won.

Koryo HC: Park Jeong-seok

Chairman Park Jeong-seok, who took over KSS Line after pushing out the founding family, lives in an old villa currently slated for reconstruction. In 1996, he purchased a 3rd-floor unit at Cheonggu Villa in Seorae Village (exclusive area 218.78㎡, supply area 234㎡) under his own name, and in 2000, he purchased a 3-story duplex unit at the adjacent Gangnam Wonhyo-seong Villa (exclusive area 200.85㎡, supply area 217.35㎡) under joint ownership with his wife. He lived at Cheonggu Villa for 25 years before moving to Gangnam Wonhyo-seong Villa in 2021. Currently, Gangnam Wonhyo-seong Villa is undergoing reconstruction, and for the Cheonggu Villa, he gifted a 7/10 stake to his son and 3/10 to his daughter-in-law in 2014.

Chairman Park’s residence, Gangnam Wonhyo-seong Villa, was provided as tax collateral to his son Park Tae-il and daughter-in-law Yoon Soo-young in 2021. The maximum debt amounts are 342.81 million won and 181.63 million won, respectively. This year, the villa's officially assessed apartment price was valued at 2.575 billion won.

OK Financial: Choi Yoon

Chairman Choi Yoon resides in a 19th-floor unit (exclusive area 129.92㎡, supply area 172.49㎡) of Acro River Park, a high-end apartment in Seocho-gu well known by the nickname "Aripark." Given that the owner is not Chairman Choi’s family, it is presumed to be a rental. The market rental price for the same size unit at Acro River Park is formed around 2.5 billion to 3.5 billion won for a jeonse (long-term deposit) lease, or monthly rents of 200 million/11.5 million to 18 million won, or 1.5 billion/3.5 million to 4.8 million won. Its officially assessed apartment price this year is 4.35 billion won.

BGF: Hong Seok-jo

Chairman Hong Seok-jo lives in a single-family home (building floor area 728.06㎡) consisting of one basement floor and two floors above ground, built in 2009 in the Seongbuk-dong 330 area, a traditional wealthy neighborhood in Seoul. The land area is 2,089㎡, and the building area is 475.22㎡, with a yard reaching 488 pyeong. It is understood that no elevator is installed inside. There is parking space for four cars indoors and two outdoors, and two auxiliary buildings (Building 1: 6.04㎡, Building 2: 20.19㎡) are used as guardhouses. The individual home's officially assessed price this year is 10.58 billion won.

Chairman Hong Seok-jo’s eldest son, Vice Chairman Hong Jung-gook, resides in a 5th-floor unit (exclusive area 244.75㎡, supply area 323.09㎡) at Sangji Ritzville Caelum, located in Jangchung-dong 1-ga, another traditional wealthy neighborhood in Seoul. He purchased it for 4.2 billion won in February 2017, and its officially assessed apartment price this year is valued at 3.644 billion won.

Daishin Securities: Yang Hong-seok

Chairman Yang Hong-seok, born in April 1981 and 43 years old this year, has been living in a Nine One Hannam apartment he purchased in May 2021 for 7.5 billion won. Chairman Yang holds a 109/150 stake, and his wife holds 41/150. It is a duplex unit connecting the basement floor and the 1st floor, with an exclusive area of 273.94㎡ and a supply area of 334.17㎡. The officially assessed apartment price this year is 8.649 billion won. Currently, the market price for the same size apartment is 25 billion won, and the jeonse price is between 12.8 billion and 14 billion won.

Nongshim: Shin Dong-won

Chairman Shin Dong-won is understood to be living with his wife in the Itaewon hillside single-family home where his late father, Chairman Shin Choon-ho, used to live, which he inherited through a testamentary gift (inheritance via will) in 2021. Built in 1992 with one basement floor and two floors above ground, the land area reaches 1,230㎡ and the building floor area is 638.49㎡. It is known that the late Chairman Shin Choon-ho participated directly as the builder during construction and held great affection for the house, even engaging in legal battles when the nearby Samsung family town was being developed.

The individual home's officially assessed price this year, where the Nongshim owner family has lived for two generations, is 15.3 billion won. A tax collateral agreement with a maximum debt amount of 1.77775 billion won was signed for this house and land in July 2022, and given that the debtors are nine bereaved family members of the late Chairman Shin, it is presumed to be tax collateral related to inheritance tax.