Exclusive: Cheong Wa Dae Secretary, a Multi-Home Owner, Profited From Illegally Extended Villa

[Anchor]

It has been revealed through SBS's reporting that Kim Sang-ho, a Press Support Secretary known to be a key close aide to President Lee Jae-myung, has been collecting monthly rent from a multi-family housing unit he owns that features an unauthorized 1st-floor extension. Secretary Kim has expressed his intention to resign.

Reporter Go Jeong-hyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

This is a five-story multi-family housing building located in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

As a Grade 1 public official serving as the head of the Chunchu-gwan at Cheong Wa Dae, Press Support Secretary Kim Sang-ho purchased the entire building together with his spouse in 2014 for 1.77 billion won.

Kim, who registered as a private rental business operator the following year, remains a multi-home owner who still owns this building.

According to public officials' property disclosures, its reported value is 4 billion won and is listed as housing six households.

The building ledger also indicates that only floors two through five consist of six residential units—meaning spaces where people can live—while the 1st floor is designated solely as a "stairwell."

We visited the site.

However, a studio apartment clearly labeled as "Unit 101" stands on the 1st floor.

The "stairwell" next to the parking lot on the pilotis-structured 1st floor has been partitioned into a residential space.

[Nearby Real Estate Agent : (Why is there a Unit 101?) Unit 101 doesn't exist... That's just, you know, unauthorized and unregistered.]

When asked if this constituted a violation of the law, the district office responded as follows.

[Gangnam-gu Office Official : According to the blueprints, it is designated as a parking lot. Along with the stairwell, if a residential space was created and the floor area is included, then it falls under unauthorized extension.]

When we met a tenant living in "Unit 101," they stated, "I pay 850,000 won in monthly rent," and added, "The deposit is 10 million won."

SBS has repeatedly sent inquiries to Secretary Kim Sang-ho since last week asking for his stance on the unauthorized extension, but Kim, who reportedly submitted his resignation earlier this month, has not responded.

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Earlier this year, during the public disclosure of public officials' assets, former Cheong Wa Dae Secretary for Land, Infrastructure and Transport Lee Sung-hoon drew controversy for holding multiple homes despite directly handling real estate policy duties.

He moved to the position of President of Korea Land and Housing Corporation last month, but as he still holds stakes in one apartment in Sejong and one multi-family house in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, along with his spouse, he remains a multi-home owner.

In response to SBS's inquiries regarding plans to sell, President Lee Sung-hoon's side stated, "We have signed a contract to sell the Sejong apartment, but it is taking time to complete the registration due to tenant issues."

(Camera: Lee Byung-joo | Video Editing: Park Sun-soo | Source of Footage: LH YouTube Channel)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.