By Kim Tae-gyu
President Park Geun-hye’s aides hold a relatively large amount of cash compared to their predecessors, according to the Civil Servants Ethics Committee, Friday.
Park’s senior secretary for civil affairs Kwak Sang-do reported assets of 2.94 billion won ($2.63 million), including bank accounts containing 2 billion won.
Choi Soon-hong, Park’s top aide in charge of realizing her campaign pledge of a “creative economy,” had wealth of 3.25 billion won with 1.52 billion won deposited in banks.
Choi Sung-jae, Park’s labor and welfare secretary, reported that his cash deposits of 1.27 billion won made up the majority of his entire wealth of 2.21 billion won.
Analysts said the sluggish real estate market has something to do with the secretaries’ wealth portfolios.
“When profits are low for investments in real estate or stock markets, cash is king. The large proportion of cash in secretaries’ wealth portfolios shows they stick to that time-honored principle,” a Seoul analyst said.
“The trend is expected to continue as the real estate and stock markets are not likely to turn around in the near future. Cash will be the primary asset of social and political leaders.”
Park herself has 239 million won in cash deposits, compared with 213 million won a year earlier, out of her total wealth of 2.44 billion won.
Many senior secretaries also retained gold, of which the price has jumped of late.
On average, their wealth stood at 1.78 billion won.
The committee also made public the annual asset changes of other ranking public officials, including ministers.
Minister of Gender Equality and Family Cho Yoon-sun’s wealth topped the list of Cabinet ministers at 4.7 billion won. Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae’s assets are 175 million won.
The ethics committee has disclosed the changes of top government bureaucrats every year, a practice that was started in the early 1990s by then President Kim Young-sam.