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Ambassador to China Tops Wealth List in Recent Government Asset Disclosure

Seoul: A government ethics committee on Friday disclosed the personal assets of 362 senior public officials, with Seoul's ambassador to Beijing topping the list with over 50 billion won (US$34.8 million) in reported wealth. Ambassador Ro Jae-hun reported total assets worth 53 billion won, including 13.2 billion won in real estate and 21.3 billion won in securities. According to Yonhap News Agency, the wealth disclosure list was compiled by the Government Ethics Committee and covers senior officials whose positions changed between July and November last year. Ro, who is the son of late former President Roh Tae-woo, assumed his role as ambassador in October. Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, ranked second with total assets of 38.4 billion won. His assets include 31 billion won in bank deposits and 2.95 billion won in real estate. Lee reported selling all of his stocks in companies listed in South Korea upon taking office in August, having originally reported 1.36 billion won worth o f securities. The disclosures also featured Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young, who reported assets worth 23.8 billion won. Minister of SMEs and Startups Han Seong-sook, who formerly served as the chief executive of online portal giant Naver, disclosed 22.1 billion won in assets. Although public officials' assets are typically disclosed at the end of every month, the latest announcement faced a delay of about four months. This was due to a fire at a state data center in September that disrupted government services.

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