Ock Joo-hyun’s 19 billion won apartment in Hannam The Hill has been seized by the local district office, weeks after a court ordered the property to auction over a mortgage loan dispute, Korean media reported on November 9.
Biz Hankook reported that the tax management division of the Yongsan-gu Office seized the apartment, registered under Ock Joo-hyun’s name, on November 6. Seizures of real estate by local governments are typically enforced when local taxes fall into arrears, according to the report carried by Newsis.
The seizure is the latest turn in a property dispute that first surfaced last month. Ock bought the Hannam-dong apartment in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, for 19 billion won last year and completed the ownership transfer registration in April. On October 14, the Seoul Western District Court issued a decision to begin a voluntary auction of the property, citing problems repaying the mortgage loan tied to it.
Ock’s side has previously framed the auction as part of a corporate process rather than a personal financial collapse. In a statement issued after the auction became public, her representatives said the matter was a “debt settlement process following the successful M&A between the corporation and the investment company,” adding that “the full loan amount will be repaid according to the business plan with the investment company.”
No new statement from Ock’s side on the district office seizure itself was reported. The earlier statement, issued through Gemstone E&M acting on her behalf, said the parties were already working through formal settlement steps and that the investment company was scheduled to repay the loan in full.
Ock Joo-hyun first rose to fame as a member of Fin.K.L and later rebuilt her career as one of South Korea’s most bankable musical theatre stars. Korean reports described the purchase as part of a wider business push built around her corporation, spanning performance, performance planning, and education, with a large-scale investment brought in from a business investment company. The agency said a merger and acquisition deal between her corporation and the investment company has since been concluded.
Whether the promised full repayment materializes will decide how the episode is remembered. For now, the seizure adds a second legal front to a case her side insists is already being settled, and it puts fresh pressure on the repayment plan to move from a statement to an actual payment.
