74-year-old actor Park Jeong-su, owner of building worth W23b, says rental income funds her life — but debt is heavy

Actor Park Jeong-su has revealed that she lives off rental income from a building now valued at around 23 billion won ($15.7 million), though she acknowledged carrying significant debt and said the value of her Seocho-gu home has barely risen.

Park sat down with Seo Dong-gi, described as South Korea's first doctorate holder in real estate studies, in a video titled "You want me to sell my 20-billion-won building?! A real estate expert's shocking solution," posted on her YouTube channel.

During the conversation, Park recalled that she had never taken out a loan in her life. "In my early 30s, it was an era when you could buy a home without borrowing," she said.

When Seo suggested that keeping only one's primary residence and putting the rest into shares was a sound strategy, Park said she owns a home and a small building, and that rental income from the building covers her living expenses. "It's my dutiful child," she said.

Park added, however, that while the rental income acts as a "dutiful child" by covering her daily costs, she carries a considerable amount of debt tied to the building.

On her primary residence in Seocho-gu, Park said she had prioritized a comfortable living environment over capital gains when she bought the property. "I'm happy living close to Umyeonsan, but the home's value hasn't risen much — then or now," she said.

In response, Seo said there is no need to be overly concerned about price fluctuations for a home intended as a primary residence, and raised the issue of inheritance tax burdens on high-value properties.

Seo explained that an apartment in Gangnam priced at around 5 billion won could carry an inheritance tax bill of roughly 2.5 billion won, and that properties with an appraised value exceeding 3 billion won may be subject to a top inheritance tax rate of around 50 percent.

Park said her home falls below the 3 billion won threshold, so the fact that its price has not risen is actually a relief. "The inheritance tax burden would be lighter too, wouldn't it?" she said.

Park purchased a building in the Sinsa-dong area of Gangnam-gu, Seoul in 2005 and had it reconstructed in 2012. The building drew attention after its current market value was estimated at around 23 billion won.

Online viewers reacted to the video with comments including: "Even the owner of a 23-billion-won building has heavy loans — that's refreshingly real"; "It's impressive that she put a good living environment ahead of property value"; and "It really hits home that rental income and loan repayments are two separate burdens."

Meanwhile, Park married a businessman in 1975 and has two children, but the marriage ended in divorce. Since 2009, she has been in a common-law relationship with Jeong Eul-yeong, a television director and the father of actor Jeong Gyeong-ho.