Yoo Jae-seok, who said he was “not interested in real estate,” why did he purchase land in Nonhyeon-dong for 11.6 billion won in cash?

Broadcaster Yoo Jae-seok purchased the yolk land located in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul for 11.6 billion won in cash.

According to the registration details of the Supreme Court registry office and the real estate industry on the 12th, Yoo Jae-seok recently purchased land in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul for 11.6 billion won.

The land area is 298.5㎡ (90.3 pyeong) and is located in a type 1 general residential area. The price per pyeong (3.3㎡) of land is 128.39 million won. It is reported that the land purchase cost was paid entirely in cash without a loan. The land in question is known to be land for the purpose of constructing a new building on bare land (land without buildings, etc.) where the existing building was demolished.

However, Yoo Jae-seok previously made a statement to the effect that he was “not interested in real estate.” He is known to prefer investing in stocks rather than real estate. In fact, after the expiration of his exclusive contract with his former agency, he signed an exclusive contract with Antenna and participated in a paid-in capital increase conducted by Kakao Entertainment, Antenna's parent company. Yoo Jae-seok, along with Yoo Hee-yeol, acquired more than 40% of Antenna's shares from Kakao Entertainment and holds 20.7%, making him currently the third-largest shareholder of Antenna. Yoo Hee-yeol's stake is 21.3%.

Considering various statements, the industry is speculating that Yoo Jae-seok's latest land purchase is related to antenna-related business. The land in question was also adjacent to Yoo Jae-seok's agency, Antenna. Antenna, which used to be an entertainment company specializing in music, is striving to expand its business by recruiting singer Lee Hyo-ri and actor Lee Seo-jin, starting with the recruitment of Yoo Jae-seok and claiming to be a comprehensive entertainment company.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr