Minister nominee Hong Ji-seon of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the Seoul apartment purchase, made using a mortgage loan and money borrowed from the in-laws, was for actual residence after the opposition labeled it an alleged "all-in purchase."
Hong said in a briefing distributed to the press on the 5th that the apartment was bought for actual residence and that the couple has since actually lived there. The explanation was that it was purchased in Mar. 2025, before the launch of the current administration, while serving as deputy mayor of Namyangju to transfer their residence.
According to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye, Hong and a spouse bought an apartment in Sindorim-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul, in joint ownership for 1.005 billion won. In the process, Hong used a mortgage loan of 367 million won, and the spouse borrowed 170 million won from the mother.
Kim's office noted that excluding the loans and the money borrowed from family, Hong and the spouse appear to have put in cash in the mid-460 million won range to buy the dwellings.
The apartment's current market price is known to be around 1.41 billion won. That means the price rose by about 400 million won in just over a year after the purchase. Kim's office defined this as an "all-in purchase," arguing it clashes with the current administration's real estate policy stance of regulating excessive lending.
Hong countered that from the time of the dwellings purchase, the focus was on living there, not investment.
Hong said that from May 2021, the couple lived on a jeonse lease in Dangsan-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and then chose the Sindorim apartment so as not to stray far from the existing living area, considering commuting conditions to Namyangju, Hong's workplace, and Seohae-gu, Incheon, where the spouse works.
Hong said, "This dwellings purchase was made during the process of residence transfer to ensure stable actual residence for my working spouse and me," adding, "It is different in nature from a dwellings purchase aimed at capital gains."