Rep. Park Chung-kwon, North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker of the People Power Party, sees sharpest rise in wealth among National Assembly members
Rep. Park Chung-kwon, a North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker in the main opposition People Power Party, saw the sharpest rise in declared wealth among National Assembly members, according to the latest mandatory asset disclosures of South Korean lawmakers released Thursday.
Data from the National Assembly’s Public Ethics Committee showed that Rep. Park reported a total of 3.38 billion won ($2.24 million), up nearly 60-fold from 50 million won a year earlier. A total of 287 lawmakers filed disclosures, with 164 reporting assets exceeding 1.5 billion won, or roughly $1 million.
The reason for the North Korea-born politician's sharp increase in assets? Marriage.
Much of the newly reported wealth is tied to properties registered under his spouse’s name. They married in November 2025.
Before his marriage, the 40-year-old politician reported relatively modest assets, mainly consisting of deposits, donations and a small amount of cryptocurrency.
Under South Korea’s disclosure rules, lawmakers and high-ranking government officials must report not only their own assets, but also those held by their spouses and immediate family members. The sharp increase in Park’s declared wealth largely reflects assets registered under his wife’s name, rather than a comparable rise in his personal holdings.
Assets under his spouse’s name include apartments in the posh Seocho-gu district in southern Seoul and Seongbuk-gu in the north of the capital, two studio apartments, three commercial spaces and two medical facilities. The real estate portfolio alone is estimated at about 4.6 billion won. She also holds 200 million won in deposits, 150 million won in stocks and some 120 million won in cryptocurrency, along with two Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
Rep. Park’s father-in-law is a former senior prosecutor who now works as an attorney at Kim & Chang, the nation’s leading law firm.
Park is a North Korean defector who worked in intercontinental ballistic missile research at the National Defense University in Pyongyang. He became a researcher at Hyundai Steel after he escaped the North in 2009.
Park entered politics in December 2023 after being recruited by the People Power Party. He won a proportional representation seat in the April 2024 general election.
junheee@heraldcorp.com
