Kim Gura lost big on Ilsan apartment — and singer Hong Seo-beom fared even worse

Broadcaster Kim Gura and singer Hong Seo-beom both made real estate investments in Siksa-dong, Ilsan, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province — and both came away burned.

The story emerged Monday in a video titled "Economy Stories Good for Listening in Bed — Kim Gura Economics Lab EP.121 Full Version," uploaded to the YouTube channel "Geurigura."

In the video, Kim recalled a time when many celebrities flocked to Siksa-dong, naming himself, Hong, comedian Lee Young-ja and actor Park Won-sook among those who bought there.

"Actor Lee Gwang-gi told me, 'Just go in for a bit and sell — you can pocket a premium. The apartment is really great,'" Kim said. "So that's how I ended up buying in. But I ended up paying all the interim installments out of pocket, and I'm still living there."

Kim bought an apartment in Siksa-dong in 2011 for 700 million won ($529,000), but said the price has barely risen since he moved in. "If I had bought an apartment in Banpo back then, it would be worth 7 billion won now," he said, noting the widening gap in property price growth between neighborhoods.

Kim said Hong's losses were even steeper. "Hong Seo-beom bought a penthouse of nearly 330 square meters at the time. The penthouse had no interior finishings — just the shell. That came to about 1.6 billion won. He put in his own interior work on top of that. Someone like Hong Seo-beom really took a serious hit," Kim said.

Kim added that Hong had also taken part in a real estate development project and received a commercial unit in return, but that too ran into multiple disputes with the city of Goyang. "Hong Seo-beom, living in Ilsan, really did suffer considerable financial losses," he said.

Hong had received a commercial unit at One Mount, a mixed-use leisure and shopping complex in Ilsan, through a pre-sale arrangement, but sustained significant investment losses due to ongoing disputes with Goyang city authorities and project delays.