Yongin Mayor Baek Gun-ki: "The House I Actually Own Is Only Half an Apartment"

[Suwon Ilbo = Reporter Park No-hun] "In reality, the residential property I own is only half of an apartment jointly owned with my son."

Yongin City Mayor Baek Gun-ki made this clarification on the 20th regarding the results of the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice's "Analysis of Real Estate Assets Reported by Local Government Officials in the Seoul Metropolitan Area," which announced that he owns 14 residential units.

Regarding the remaining 13 units, Mayor Baek explained that they are "jointly owned by my wife and her son from a previous marriage" after he remarried following the death of his first wife from an incurable illness, and that moreover "13 small one-room units in a multi-unit residential building were mistakenly counted as 13 residential units."

He further stated that regarding this multi-unit residential building: "My current wife received the land as an inheritance in 1995, before she remarried with me, following the death of her previous husband. To raise one son and one daughter, she demolished the existing house and built about 13 small one-room units of approximately 10 pyeong each in one old multi-unit residential building. Currently, the grown children are exercising actual property rights over it."

Mayor Baek and his current wife each remarried in 2008 following the death of their respective spouses from incurable illnesses. They do not involve themselves in each other's previous properties; however, they have included them in their public official asset reports.

Because of this, Mayor Baek has provided the same clarification every time his public official asset report has been released since 2018. However, he expressed regret that the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice and the media have failed to verify the records and have made the same mistake repeatedly, publicly listing him as a multi-property owner.

"Our couple has already suffered deep wounds from the distorted announcements and reports each time," he said.

Mayor Baek stated, however, that "I have never forgotten my duty as a public official even once," and urged, "I hope the media will verify the facts and provide accurate reporting."