Ruling Saenuri Party Rep. Chung Mong-joon, 63, the sixth son of the late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung, has successfully retained the title of richest lawmaker in Korea.
A survey on the assets of 295 South Korean lawmakers in 2013 that was released by the government’s Civil Service Ethics Committee in March found the seventh-term lawmaker topping the list with a fortune of 2.04 trillion won ($1.97 billion).
Most of his wealth came from his 10.15 percent stake in Hyundai Heavy Industries, a company that was split from Hyundai Group in 2002. These shares were worth 2 trillion won as of 2013.
In 1988, Chung left the firm, resigning from the top post following his election into the National Assembly. Despite this departure, he is still known to flex his muscles in the firm as the largest individual shareholder.
Bank savings was Chung’s second-largest source of income, worth 46.8 billion won. Dividend income from his stockholdings appears to have boosted his bank savings, according to related data.
The richest serving lawmaker earns more than 10 billion won from stock dividends per year. For instance, the company paid Chung 15.4 billion won in cash dividends last month for his shareholdings in 2013.
Chung also owns around 10 billion won in real estate, the survey revealed.
Despite his powerful financial status, the politician may now face a turning point in his career as he has declared his bid for Seoul mayor in the upcoming provincial election scheduled for June 4.
Under the current law, if a candidate with more than 30 million won in stock assets is elected, the candidate has to either sell them or put them in a blind trust within 30 days of inauguration.
Political sources forecast that Chung will decide to donate his shares to a nonprofit foundation run by Hyundai Heavy Industries, instead of selling the stake, to quell the debate over his vast fortune.
By Seo Jee-yeon (
jyseo@heraldcorp.com)
