Singer Lee Seung-gi blocked from entering building he built after contractor asserts lien

Singer Lee Seung-gi spent a large sum building a property in Seoul's Jangchung-dong, only to find himself locked out after the contractor asserted a lien on the building. The contractor, Piarc Construction, is a family company of Cha Ga-won, chairman of One Hundred Label, with whom Lee is embroiled in a separate exclusive-contract dispute.

Lee purchased a 618-square-meter plot in Jangchung-dong, Jung-gu — one of Seoul's most established affluent neighborhoods — in 2024. The acquisition cost roughly 9.4 billion won in total, including a loan of 6.5 billion won ($4.43 million).

In January 2025, Lee began construction on the site of a mixed-use residential building with one below-ground floor, five above-ground floors and a total floor area of 1,077 square meters, with Piarc Construction as the contractor. The building was recently completed, and Lee finished the ownership registration last month.

Lee has since been unable to even enter the building, let alone exercise his property rights, after Piarc Construction moved to assert a lien. The building is surrounded by tall fencing, with a banner reading "Lien in effect" hanging outside.

Piarc Construction says it asserted the lien because it has not received the final payment. Lee's representatives told The Fact: "The final payment is 10 percent of the contract price, and the unpaid amount is slightly less than that. The contractor is also demanding additional construction costs, but there was no discussion about them and we have not received a proper breakdown." They added: "The contract required construction to be completed by Dec. 31 last year, but it ran several months over schedule, which means delay penalties apply. Yet there is no mention of that — instead, the contractor added undisclosed extra costs on top of the final payment. That figure was about 700 million won in May but has since grown to 1.4 billion won."

Lee is believed to have planned to move into the building once his current jeonse lease expires, but he is now unable to do so.

In response to Piarc Construction's lien, Lee has filed an emergency injunction with the court seeking handover of the building.

Lee and Chairman Cha are currently entangled in multiple disputes.

Lee signed an exclusive contract in 2024 with a label under Cha's entertainment agency One Hundred. He subsequently filed a lawsuit to terminate the contract, claiming the agency had failed to pay him proper settlement funds.

Around the time he signed with Cha's agency, Lee also moved into La Nuvo 1, a luxury villa in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, built by Piarc Group — a property owned by Chairman Cha — paying a jeonse deposit of 10.5 billion won. That arrangement has also become a source of dispute over the return of the deposit, with observers noting that Cha's side may be in financial difficulty and unable to repay it.

Because Lee took out a loan of about 7.3 billion won to cover part of the deposit, he would be personally responsible for repaying that debt if Cha fails to return the jeonse funds.