It has been alleged that Jeon Hae-chul, the nominee for minister of public administration and security, made a profit of 1.5 billion won by selling an apartment in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in 2018.
According to an analysis of Jeon’s public list of property changes by Seo Beom-soo, a member of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, Jeon reported that he purchased one apartment building in Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul for 690 million won in 2006.
Later in 2019, according to the details of the property disclosure, Jeon sold the apartment for 2.2 billion won.
In simple terms, the company earned 1.5 billion won in profit in 13 years.
In response, Jeon’s confirmation hearing preparation team released an explanation and explained, “The candidate did not make an inappropriate investment, but owned a house near the residential area where he had lived for a long time,” adding, “When I purchased the right to sell apartments in Dogok, Gangnam, I was already living in Seocho-gu, nearby.”
The preparation team also stressed, “At that time, I was a lawyer and had nothing to do with working at Cheong Wa Dae,” adding, “(The apartment) is a long-term home owned for 15 years until 2018, and it is not an investment aimed at capital gains.
In 2004, Jeon served as a civil affairs secretary at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae.
“As we purchased an apartment in Ansan, a district, we decided to sell an apartment in Gangnam-gu because we thought it was necessary to maintain one house,” the preparation team said. “For your information, the price of an apartment has risen further since the sale in 2018.”
