It has been confirmed that Lee Eok-won, a nominee for chairman of the Financial Services Commission, failed to pay property tax on time, resulting in his home being seized twice. The nominee also confirmed that he has increased his wealth through multiple investments in apartments, including a reconstruction apartment in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam.
According to documents received from the Financial Services Commission and Gangnam District Office by Kim Jae-seop's office, a member of the National Policy Committee, the nominee did not pay 4.02 million won in property tax from 2013 to 2015. The Gangnam District Office seized the nominee's apartment located in Gaepo-dong in October 2015, and as the period of tax delinquency increased, an additional tax of about 550,000 won was also added.
The nominee belatedly paid the property tax, including the additional tax, at the end of that year, and the seizure was lifted. Representative Kim criticized, "The nominee has a history of tax delinquency and seizures every time he goes abroad, and if a public official cannot even fulfill basic tax obligations, he is unfit to become the chairman of the Financial Services Commission."
The nominee purchased the apartment just before being dispatched as a minister-counselor to the United Nations Office in Geneva in 2013. He stayed abroad until June 2017. Kim's office suspects that buying an apartment where he does not reside is for speculative purposes.
According to Kim's office, the nominee bought this apartment for 850 million won on July 8, 2013. The apartment has since undergone reconstruction and is currently valued between 4.7 billion and 5 billion won.
In 2003, when he was sent for government-funded studies in the United States, the nominee also had an apartment in Uiwang seized due to delinquent property taxes. In 2005, prior to being dispatched to the United States Investment Corporation, he purchased an apartment in Gangnam, Gaepo, for 350 million won, held it without residing there, and later sold it for a profit of 200 million won.
In response, the nominee's side explained, "I did not receive the tax notice because I was staying abroad, so I was unaware of the tax-related matters," adding, "I paid everything as soon as I realized the related facts after returning to Korea or during my overseas work, and I have never been negligent in my tax obligations." The National Policy Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on the nominee on the 2nd.