South Korean ambassador to China Roh Jae-hun (left) is seen during a summit of President Lee Jae Myung (right, front) and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in November. (Newsis)
South Korean ambassador to China Roh Jae-hun (left) is seen during a summit of President Lee Jae Myung (right, front) and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in November. (Newsis)

South Korean ambassador to China Roh Jae-hun is the richest official of the Lee Jae Myung administration, a mandatory asset disclosure of high-ranking officials revealed Friday.

Roh, son of the late President Roh Tae-woo, disclosed his 53.04 billion won ($36.9 million) asset holdings with the Government Ethics Committee, according to the extraordinary government official publication by the Ministry of Interior and Safety.

Roh's assets include 14.4 billion won in real estate, 12.6 billion won in cash and 21.3 billion won in securities.

Roh was among 362 ministers, vice ministers and civil servants of Grade I combined, who were subject to mandatory disclosure, as they were appointed, promoted or retired from July 2 and Nov. 1 last year.

The second-richest high-ranking official of the Lee administration is Lee Chan-jin, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service. Lee, who heads the financial watchdog, declared 38.49 billion won in personal assets, including 31 billion won in cash and 2.9 billion won in properties.

Cabinet ministers' assets also came into the limelight. Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young reported 23.87 billion won to top the list among the ministers, followed by SME Minister Han Seong-sook's 22.11 billion won. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan declared 6.57 billion won in assets, Health Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong reported 5.67 billion won, and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol declared 4.79 billion won.

Those who double as lawmakers, such as Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung and Climate Minister Kim Sung-hwan, were not subject to the asset disclosure.

Among Cheong Wa Dae officials on the list whose assets averaged 2.7 billion won, Cho Han-sang, presidential secretary for public relations planning, was the richest with 9.56 billion won, including real estate valued at 7.4 billion won.

Cho was followed by presidential secretary for legal affairs Lee Jang-hyung, with 9 billion won in assets, and presidential secretary for public relations Lee Min-joo, who disclosed 6.5 billion won.


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