NPS real estate investment head dismissed, control of 70 trillion won 'big money' collapses

The National Pension Service (NPS) has dismissed its former head of real estate investment, who had been under internal audit over allegations of misconduct including unfair demands on outsourced asset managers.

On Nov. 3, the NPS held a disciplinary committee and decided to dismiss the former real estate investment head. The move came after he was placed on standby in July and a re-audit was conducted for more than two months.

The official took office in December 2023 and had overseen the NPS's domestic and overseas real estate investment operations, which amount to over 70 trillion won (about $52 billion).

He has been accused of abusing his superior position by demanding the dismissal or replacement of executives at outsourced asset managers and pressuring them to hire certain individuals. Allegations were also raised that he verbally abused officials at asset managers who did not comply with his demands and pressured them with exclusion from fund commitments.

Conflict-of-interest controversy also arose during the process of replacing asset managers for large real estate assets.

A representative case was an attempt to change the outsourced asset manager for Centerfield in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, from IGIS Asset Management to Koramco Asset Management. The move sparked controversy over the appropriateness of the replacement reasons and procedures, and the proposal was rejected by the NPS's alternative investment committee.

Last year, the NPS also investigated the official over allegations of power abuse against outsourced asset managers but closed the internal audit after finding no wrongdoing. When similar misconduct allegations were raised again, he was removed from his duties and a re-audit was launched.

Edaily reported, based on data submitted by the NPS to the office of Rep. Lee In-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, that the internal audit confirmed serious regulatory violations including power abuse by the official.

As last year's audit ended with no charges and a re-audit led to dismissal, the appropriateness of the initial audit and the effectiveness of internal controls have also emerged as issues.

The duties of the real estate investment head have been handled concurrently by the infrastructure investment head since the official was placed on standby. Yonhap Infomax reported that decision-making related to new real estate investments has been suspended.

(Dollar figures are approximate, converted automatically at 1,000 won = $0.738, the rate on Nov. 8, 2026.)

※ This article is an AI translation of the Korean original published by Korea Credit News; it was checked by automated quality guards and published by the English edition desk.