The Ruling Party Favors 'Virtual Assets,' the Opposition Favors 'Big Tech'…Political Affiliation Reflected in Stock Investments

Yoo Dong-soo (Ruling Party), Top Crypto Holder with 360 Million KRW

Yoon Sang-hyun (Opposition), 30% Profit on Tech Stock Investments

'Stock King' Ahn Cheol-soo Holds 129.6 Billion KRW

Son Myung-soo Profits from Rapidly Rising Domestic and Foreign Stocks

17% of National Assembly Members Own Stocks

Samsung Electronics and Apple Remain the Most Popular Picks

"Big investor Ahn Cheol-soo, Yeouido whale Yoo Dong-soo, overseas stock king ant Yoon Sang-hyun, master of stock picks Son Myung-soo…."

Interest in lawmakers’ stock investments is growing as the police investigate independent member Lee Chun-seok for alleged stock transactions under borrowed names. The names of National Assembly members known to hold large amounts of stocks and cryptocurrency are being mentioned again. Lawmakers’ interest in stock investment is unexpectedly high. Their investment sizes far exceed that of ordinary investors, and quite a few among them boast outstanding returns.

According to asset disclosures released by the National Assembly Public Officials Ethics Committee on the 24th (as of end-December last year), 17.6% (52 people) of the 22nd National Assembly's 295 lawmakers personally owned domestic stocks. Including spouses, children, and direct family, the proportion rises to 45.8% (135 people). Fewer held overseas stocks compared to domestic stocks, with 26.1% (77 lawmakers and their families) reporting overseas stock holdings.

The largest holder in terms of securities such as stocks and bonds is Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party. He declared holdings worth 129.6 billion KRW, including AhnLab shares, government bonds, and Korea South-East Power company bonds. The second richest in stocks is Baek Jong-heon (People Power Party) with 12.4 billion KRW. Baek holds mainly unlisted stocks such as Baeksan Metal (80,000 shares), and only one domestic listed company, Kumkang Industrial (17.7 million KRW worth).

Yoon Sang-hyun, also of the People Power Party, draws attention for the stock portfolio of his spouse, Shin Kyung-ah, CEO of Daeseon Construction. The portfolio is heavy in global tech giants like TSMC, Dell Technologies, NVIDIA, Palantir, and Toast. Most of these stocks surged over 30% compared to late last year, with some seeing gains exceeding 100%.

Son Myung-soo of the Democratic Party also stands out. With a stock investment of 490.78 million KRW, Son invests in a remarkably broad range of rapidly rising domestic stocks such as LS Marine Solution, Gamsung Corporation, Samsung Heavy Industries, Doosan Enerbility, Hanmi Semiconductor, and Samyang Foods, along with indices heavy financial holding companies. The overseas picks Son targeted—including NVIDIA, Joby Aviation, and NuScale Power—also soared this year.

There were several instances where lawmakers likely faced significant losses from not disposing of stocks in time. Kwon Hyang-yeop (Democratic Party) and Yoo Sang-beom (People Power Party) are representative. Kwon owns 6,754 shares of Hansong Neotech in her name, and Yoo’s spouse holds 181 shares of Cellivery—both stocks were delisted this year due to adverse auditor opinions.

Samsung Electronics was the most widely held stock among lawmakers and their families at the time of reporting, with nearly 30 lawmakers or their immediate family members owning it. The largest holder is Ko Dong-jin (People Power Party), who—befitting a former president of Samsung Electronics—declared 48,500 personal shares and a family total of 73,786 shares including spouse and second son. Overseas stock portfolios were notably concentrated on big tech: 30 lawmakers own Apple, 29 own Tesla, 26 own NVIDIA, 16 own Microsoft, and 10 own Amazon.com. Big tech stocks were particularly favored by People Power Party members. Yoo Yong-won owns 179 shares of Apple, Yoon Sang-hyun has 293 shares of Tesla, and Kim Eun-hye holds 1,000 shares of NVIDIA.

Virtual assets were most prominent among Democratic Party lawmakers. Nineteen owned APENFT, followed by Bitcoin (17 members), Ripple (17 members), EthereumPoW (16 members), and DisChain (14 members). Yoo Dong-soo was the largest individual holder of virtual assets at 364.15 million KRW.

Some observers say the current asset disclosure system does not accurately reflect the true scale of lawmakers’ stock investments.

Reporter: Park Joo-yeon grumpy_cat@hankyung.com