Gov’t attempts again to sell Chun’s properties

Real estate owned by the family of former President Chun Doo Hwan will be put up for auction again next week.

This is the third attempt by the government to sell off the properties it confiscated last year to pay off Chun’s criminal fine for misdeeds and unpaid taxes owed by him and his family.

According to the Korea Asset Management Corporation (Kamco) yesterday, properties including two pieces of land and five office buildings located in posh neighborhoods in Gangnam, southern Seoul, will be put up for sale on the auction website www.onbid.co.kr between Monday and Wednesday.

The minimum amount that the government plans to raise from the auction is 13.2 billion won ($13 million). This is 10 percent lower than the 14.6 billion won it aimed to receive in the previous attempt.

The actual market value of the properties is estimated to be 16 billion won. But the government has been forced to lower its asking price as it failed to find buyers in the last two attempts, the latest having been in May.

The auctions will occur in two lots. The first will be a piece of land and three buildings owned by Sigongsa, a company whose CEO is the former president’s eldest son Chun Jae-kook. Kamco’s asking price for that lot is 9.2 billion won. The assessed value of the properties is 10.3 billion won.

The second lot is for a piece of land and two office buildings with an assessed value of 4.3 billion won. The state-run company’s asking price is 3.9 billion won.

Bidding will start at 10 percent below asking price.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]