Hong Ji-sun, the nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, financed more than half of her apartment purchase in Guro, Seoul, last year through a mortgage and a loan from her mother-in-law.
On September 4, an analysis by Kim Eun-hye, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, revealed that Hong and her spouse bought an apartment in Sindorim-dong, Guro District, for 1.005 billion won in May 2025.
To fund the purchase, Hong secured a mortgage of 367 million won, while her spouse borrowed 170 million won from her mother on April 15, 2025, signing a promissory note.
The day after the loan was taken, they paid a 200 million won deposit for the apartment.
Initially, the spouse agreed to a one-year grace period for principal repayment, with an interest rate of 4.6% on a principal and interest repayment plan. However, this year, the contract was modified to extend the grace period to three years.
Combining the loan from the mother and the bank loan, they effectively borrowed about 530 million won to purchase the apartment valued in the 1 billion won range.
Currently, the market value of the apartment is approximately 1.41 billion won, indicating that Hong has gained around 400 million won in value within a year, according to Kim's office.
Kim's office pointed out that this method of purchase falls under the so-called 'leveraged buying' and questioned whether it contradicts the government's real estate policy, which has been tightening loan regulations.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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