Buyer of Lee Jae Myung's Bundang apartment says seller-financing loan fully repaid

The buyer of President Lee Jae Myung's apartment in Bundang, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, has fully repaid the 1.77 billion won ($1.31 million) borrowed through a seller-financing arrangement.

The buyer, identified only as A, told Financial News on Tuesday that the loan had been settled using proceeds from the sale of another apartment the buyer had previously owned.

Lee's side has since canceled the 1.77 billion won collateral mortgage registered on the property.

Lee sold the apartment to the buyer in July for 2.9 billion won. At the time, the buyer was unable to raise the full purchase price and was blocked from taking out a conventional bank loan due to lending regulations, so the transaction was structured as seller financing — an arrangement in which the seller effectively extends credit to the buyer.

In a seller-financing deal, no cash loan changes hands in the conventional sense; instead, the seller transfers the property on a deferred-payment basis. The seller registers a collateral mortgage on the home to secure the outstanding amount owed.

The transaction drew widespread criticism. Critics argued that Lee, who had tightened lending regulations in the name of curbing real estate speculation, had effectively circumvented those same rules himself. Others argued that allowing buyers without sufficient funds to purchase homes props up property prices. Since Lee's deal, seller financing has spread broadly across the market, raising further concern.

Cheong Wa Dae said it had "taken the buyer's circumstances into consideration" and denied any personal or special relationship between Lee and the buyer, calling such claims "groundless."