Cho Soo-bin Deletes Video of Junior Anchor's USD 3.6 Million Banpo Apartment Amid Funding Controversy

Former announcer Cho Soo-bin has deleted a YouTube video featuring her visit to a junior announcer's newly built apartment in Banpo, Seoul, after facing intense controversy over the source of the funds used to purchase the property.

On July 26, Cho uploaded a video to her YouTube channel titled "A Banpo New Apartment Bought by Gathering Dust." The video featured a visit to the home of a junior announcer affiliated with a general cable channel living in Maple Jai in Jamwon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, where she asked about the process of buying a home.

The apartment featured in the video is Maple Jai, a new complex that began move-ins in June of last year. At the time of the pre-sale, the upper limit on housing prices was applied, with the 59-square-meter unit supplied in the 1.7 billion KRW range. Prices subsequently surged, with a 59-square-meter unit trading for 4.05 billion KRW and an 84-square-meter unit trading for 5.08 billion KRW in May of this year.

In the video, Cho asked her junior, "Announcer salaries aren't that high, so what is the secret to acquiring a pre-sale right for a new Banpo apartment in a short period?" The junior replied, "Savings," and when asked whether she invested in stocks or crypto, she answered, "I didn't."

In response, internet users reacted skeptically, pointing out that even if the purchase price of the pre-sale right was estimated at 1.6 billion KRW at the time, combining the contract payment and the balance required at least 900 million to 1 billion KRW in self-capital. Adding acquisition taxes and additional reconstruction surcharges brought the total funds to around 1.2 billion KRW, making it hard to believe the purchase was made solely through savings.

As the controversy grew, Cho left a comment explaining, "The junior couple both worked dual incomes, had long careers at their company, and invested in index funds for a long time." This contradicted the junior's remark in the video stating that she "did not invest in stocks."

Cho continued, "They also bought the house quickly before regulations became stricter. Of course, their parents helped, but not to an extent that goes beyond social norms. I know their situation, and the efforts of the two individuals played a major role. It was before housing prices skyrocketed like they have now, and regulations were different. I watched them practice financial tech by dual-income living with a capable husband and minimizing housing costs. I think that until a few years ago, if you pushed yourself a little, there were opportunities. They lived frugally even though they could have afforded to live luxuriously."

However, as questions regarding the origin of the self-capital continued, Cho changed the video title to "A Visit to a Beloved Junior's New Home Decorated with Carrot + Refurbished Items." The producer in charge also posted a separate apology, stating, "We apologize to those who felt uncomfortable due to the video's thumbnail and editing." They explained, "As we focused on introducing the home, we failed to fully capture the values and context we wanted to convey. We wanted to show the cast member's diligent attitude toward life and investment philosophy, but the editing process conveyed something different from our original intention."

Despite the explanations and apologies, the controversy did not subside, and the video was ultimately set to private before being deleted.

 

(Photo: Yonhap News) Reported by Kang Kyung-yoon from SBS Entertainment News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.