President Lee Approves Dismissal of Chunchugwan Director Kim Sangho After Disciplinary Action Over 'Illegal Expansion' Controversy

Sungnak Wi, Director of the National Security Office (right), and Sangho Kim, Secretary for Press Support at the Blue House, are talking at the Senior Secretary Meeting hosted by President Jae-myung Lee at Yeomin-gwan, Blue House, on February 5, 2026. Photo by Yonhap News

Kim Sangho, Director of the Chunchugwan Press Center, who was embroiled in allegations of illegal expansion, was dismissed on August 11.

A Blue House official announced on this day, "The disciplinary action followed by dismissal for Director Kim has been finalized."

Director Kim came under suspicion of illegal expansion after it was revealed that the first floor of a five-story multi-family house he owns in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, had been converted without authorization into a studio apartment and was being leased out.

In a statement, Kim explained, "When I purchased the property in 2014, part of the parking lot had already been converted into a studio apartment, and I did not personally carry out or order the construction work." He added, "I was not aware at the time of purchase that this part of the building was an unregistered structure."

However, he stated, "Since 2018, in the process of continually trying to sell the property, I considered the burden caused by an increase in the number of homes I own, and as a result, I was not able to actively complete the necessary procedures." He continued, "Ultimately, I take the failure to carry out the required administrative procedures in a timely manner very seriously."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.