Cheong Wa Dae on the 11th decided to dismiss Kim Sang-ho, the Chunchugwan director, after controversy erupted over an "illegal expansion." A presidential office official said that day, "The Chunchugwan director will be dismissed."
Director Kim has been a closest core aide in charge of public affairs for President Lee from the days as Seongnam mayor and Gyeonggi governor. After working in the party leader's office and the presidential campaign, he oversaw media affairs at the Lee Jae-myung administration's Cheong Wa Dae. Director Kim owns a five-story multi-family dwellings in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and recent media reports revealed that ▲ the first floor of the dwellings was illegally expanded, and ▲ it was arranged as a studio and rented out.
In the assets of high-ranking public officials disclosed in March this year, it is recorded that Director Kim owns six dwellings. In reality, however, seven households are residing there, including part of the first floor labeled "stairwell," and he had put this studio up for monthly rent to earn rental revenue.
Issuing a statement, Director Kim said, "When I purchased it in 2014, part of the parking lot had been converted into a studio," and added, "I did not personally expand it or order an expansion." He also said, "I did not recognize at the time of purchase that the portion in question was an unregistered structure, and I became aware of it in the process of finding a tenant afterward."
However, with President Lee pushing strong measures such as loan regulations under the banner of "normalizing the real estate market," criticism arose that a senior presidential office official had left an illegality unattended despite knowing about it. Director Kim said, "I became aware of it in the process of finding a tenant," and added, "I take seriously that I failed to proactively carry out the related procedures in the process of continuously seeking a sale since 2018."