Seoul: Senior public officials in central and local governments have more than 2 billion won (US$1.3 million) in personal wealth on average, data showed Thursday. A total of 1,903 senior officials declared an average of 2.09 billion won in personal assets as of the end of 2025, up about 30 million won from the average figure a year earlier.

According to Yonhap News Agency, 616 officials, or 32.4 percent, had assets exceeding 2 billion won. This group was followed by 538 officials with assets ranging from 1 billion won to 2 billion won, and 374 officials with assets between 500 million won to 1 billion won. The remaining officials declared assets less than 500 million won.

President Lee Jae Myung reported a significant increase in his personal assets, amounting to 4.97 billion won, a rise of 1.88 billion won from his last disclosure. The increase was largely attributed to book royalties, his salary, and unrealized gains from his exchange-traded fund investment.

Among members of the Cabinet, Minister of SMEs and Startups Han Seong-sook, who previously served as the chief executive of online portal giant Naver, disclosed 22.3 billion won in assets. The Government Ethics Committee is set to examine these asset declarations by June and is prepared to take punitive measures if any irregularities are found.