December 19, 2025
SEOUL – An overwhelming number of South Korea’s most powerful conglomerate families reside in Seoul, reflecting how economic influence is clustered in a limited number of residential districts.
Nearly 94 percent of chaebol family members — 409 out of 436 individuals surveyed — reside in Seoul, while another 17, or 3.9 percent, live in neighboring Gyeonggi Province, according to the analysis from local corporate tracker CEO Score on Wednesday.
The report examined 436 members from families controlling 62 major conglomerates, defined as companies with at least 11.6 trillion won ($7.84 billion) in assets.
Only a handful live elsewhere. Two in Busan, four overseas, and one each in Incheon, Daejeon, North Jeolla Province and North Chungcheong Province.
Chaebols refer to family-controlled corporate groups that dominate Korea’s economy, such as Samsung Group under the Lee family and Hyundai Motor Group led by the Chung family.
Within Seoul, wealth is concentrated even further. Yongsan-gu and Gangnam-gu alone accounted for more than half of all chaebol residents, with 127 people, or 29.1 percent, living in Yongsan and 113, or 25.9 percent, in Gangnam.
Seocho-gu followed with 65 residents, meaning the three districts — along with Songpa-gu — were home to some of Seoul’s most affluent residents.
These neighborhoods are also some of the most expensive housing markets in the country.
Hannam-dong and Itaewon-dong, both in Yongsan-gu, stood out as the single largest cluster, home to 100 chaebol family members, or 22.9 percent of the total surveyed, more than any other area nationwide.
Several of Korea’s most prominent business figures live along the Itaewon-ro corridor, including Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and his sisters Lee Boo-jin, CEO of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, president of Samsung C&T.
Hyundai Motor Group Chair Chung Eui-sun also resides in the Hannam-Itaewon area, as does his uncle, Asan Foundation Chair Chung Mong-joon.
Other high-income areas on the list included Seongbuk-dong in Seoul, with 37 residents, and Bundang-gu in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, with 10.
The report excluded spouses and family members under age 30, and the data was based on officially registered residential addresses, CEO Score said.