[Anchor]

An apartment in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, previously owned by President Lee Jae-myung, was recently sold for 2.9 billion won. It has been confirmed that a mortgage of 1.77 billion won was set against the buyer during this process, drawing criticism from the People Power Party, which labels it a workaround transaction.

Reporter Kang Cheongwan has the story.

[Reporter]

The apartment in Sunae-dong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, which had a floor area of 164 square meters and was jointly owned by President Lee Jae-myung and his wife, Kim Hye-kyung.

The sale was completed on July 14 for 2.9 billion won.

According to the property registry,

The buyers are individuals surnamed Kim and Jo.

A mortgage of 1.77 billion won has been registered on this apartment since July 16.

The mortgagees are President Lee and his wife, who sold the house, while the debtors are the buyers, Kim and Jo.

It appears that President Lee and his wife transferred the legal ownership to the buyers while holding the house as collateral, agreeing to receive 1.77 billion won of the 2.9 billion won sale price at a later date.

The Presidential Office explained that the details on the registry, including the mortgage, were due to the buyer's circumstances. It is understood that because the buyers have not yet sold their current home and could not secure the full balance, President Lee and his wife set the mortgage on the condition that the remaining balance be paid by the end of October.

This method of selling a house by having the seller set a mortgage is sometimes used when financial institutions have high barriers to lending for buyers.

Currently, under the government's real estate loan regulation policy, mortgage loans for homes exceeding 2.5 billion won are limited to a maximum of 200 million won.

It is also reported that the transaction was expedited through this mortgage because the apartment previously owned by the President is scheduled to be designated for a reconstruction project at the end of this month; if the registration were delayed, the buyer might not be able to inherit the status of a reconstruction union member.

The People Power Party criticized the move, stating that while the government restricts loans for ordinary citizens, the President engaged in a workaround transaction to provide a large loan to bypass these regulations when selling his own home. They questioned, "Is it speculation when the public does it, but a normal transaction when the President does it?"

(Video reported by Jung Sang-bo, Kim Se-kyung, Ha Ryung | Video edited by Yoo Mi-ra | Design by Lee Jong-jung)