President Kim's Changing Fortunes

The present assets of Mr. and Mrs. Kim Dae-jung were tallied at $988,310 at the end of last year. Its worth had increased by $189,308 over 1999.
Chong Wa Dae (the Blue House) explained that the increase in the account books resulted from the sale of the Kim house at Ilsan to a Mr. Chung,a Korean resident in America, and consequent acquisition in Kim's wife Lee Hee-ho's name of a house in Dongkyo-dong which had belonged to Kim Hong-il, their eldest son.
Chong Wa Dae explained that the sums paid for both houses were the same - $565,200 - but that the current market values of the houses differed at $258,400 for the house at Ilsan but $508,700 for the house in Dongkyo-dong.
Their assets increased by an additional $17,400,attributable to the remainder of their 1999 salary and bank interest.
On the other hand, their assets decreased by $41,564, which President Kim contributed to 'Request of Love', a KBS charitable campaign. This money is said to have been earned from his book royalties and remuneration for his lectures.