Where Seoul's Top CEOs Live: A Reading of the Luxury Residential Market
Considered Analysis · Series 1 of 3
Where Seoul's Top CEOs Live:
A Reading of the Luxury Residential Market
Reading Space Through Data · Seoul's High-End Residential Landscape · Quiet Property · 2026
The June 2026 issue of Boodongsan Life (부동산라이프) published a striking set of findings.
A survey of Korea's top 500 corporate CEOs by place of residence revealed one clear answer for the most popular address: DH Firstier I'Park in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam-gu.
Not Hannam-dong. Not Banpo-dong. Not Apgujeong-dong.
The Rankings
| # | Complex | Location | CEOs | Market Price | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DH Firstier I'Park | Gaepo-dong, Gangnam-gu | 11 | ₩6.1B–7.5B | 201㎡ (61py) |
| 2 | Nine One Hannam | Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu | 8 | ₩14.5B–16.0B | 248㎡ (75py) |
| 3 | Raemian Firstage | Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu | 7 | ₩7.0B–8.3B | 205㎡ (62py) |
| 4 | Hannam The Hill | Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu | 5 | ₩10.0B–11.0B | 215㎡ (65py) |
| 5 | Pangyo Prugio Granbel | Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam | 4 | ₩5.0B | 169㎡ (51py) |
| 6 | Dongyang Paragon | Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu | 4 | ₩8.2B | 235㎡ (71py) |
| 7 | Lake Palace | Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu | 4 | ₩3.5B–4.2B | 165㎡ (50py) |
| 8 | LG Han River Xi | Ichon-dong, Yongsan-gu | 4 | ₩5.1B–6.4B | 215㎡ (65py) |
| 9 | Olympic Park Foreon | Dunchon-dong, Gangdong-gu | 4 | ₩3.3B–4.7B | 165㎡ (50py) |
Gaepo-dong: A Name Worth Pausing Over
There was a time when Gaepo-dong carried an unflattering nickname — loosely translated as "even dogs gave up on it." Peripheral within Gangnam, inconvenient to central Seoul, lacking in infrastructure. These criticisms were real.
But on closer inspection, those weaknesses were never rooted in geography. They came from the age of the housing stock.
The natural assets were always there: Daemo Mountain to the south, Yangjae Stream running nearby. Clean air. Quiet surroundings. Greenery within reach. What changed was not the land — it was what was built on it.
DH Honour Hills (formerly Gaepo Jugong Complex 3) opened first. Then came DH Firstier I'Park (formerly Gaepo Jugong Complex 1) — at 6,702 households, the largest single redevelopment complex in Gangnam-gu. The transformation was complete.
Inside the complex: hotel-style breakfast and lunch service, an indoor swimming pool, a full-scale fitness centre, an indoor golf practice range, and a sky lounge. Residents need not leave the grounds for much of their daily lives. Combined with proximity to Daechi-dong's tutoring district, Gangnam's commercial core, rigorous security, and underground parking — Gaepo-dong has claimed its place as a new category of Seoul's high-end residential landscape.
Those Who Have Moved In
Among the residents named in the article:
Tae-moon Roh (President, Samsung Electronics), Sang-hyun Park (President, Doosan Enerbility), Seok-hee Lee (President, SK On), Jeong-woon Nam (CEO, Hanwha Solutions), Su-yeon Choi (CEO, Naver), Dae-il Kim (CEO, Krafton).
What stands out is the breadth of industries represented. Traditional manufacturing, energy, technology, gaming. The common denominator is not sector — it is the profile of a successful, active-tenure executive who made a considered residential choice.
Reading the Rest of the List
Nine One Hannam — 2nd place · 8 CEOs · Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu
At ₩14.5–16.0 billion, this is the highest per-unit price point on the list. Named residents include Deok-hyeon Jang (President, Samsung Electro-Mechanics), Dae-hyun Kang (CEO, Nexon Korea), and Jang-su Kim (Chairman, F&F). Nine One Hannam's market position rests on scarcity, privacy, and an address that communicates itself without elaboration.
Raemian Firstage — 3rd place · 7 CEOs · Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu
Won-tae Cho (Chairman, Korean Air) and Seong-hwan Kim (President, Korea Investment & Securities) are among those named. Banpo remains what it has long been: the textbook Gangnam residential address. Han River access, school districts, scale, and brand — all present and accounted for.
Hannam The Hill — 4th place · 5 CEOs · Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu
Beom-sik Hong (President, LG Uplus) and Dong-hwi Koo (President, LS MnM) are among those noted. At ₩10.0–11.0 billion, Hannam The Hill and Nine One Hannam form the twin pillars of Hannam-dong's upper residential tier. Read our full analysis of Hannam The Hill →
What the Data Suggests
The map is more instructive than the numbers.
Nine complexes. Six distinct locations: Gangnam-gu, Yongsan-gu, Seocho-gu, Songpa-gu, Gangdong-gu, and Seongnam. The mental map of Seoul's premier residential belt — once reliably centred on Hannam-dong, Apgujeong-dong, Cheongdam-dong, and Banpo-dong — now extends to Gaepo-dong and Dunchon-dong.
And across all nine, one condition holds.
Hotel-grade communal services. Indoor pools. Fitness facilities. Golf ranges. Sky lounges. Security systems. Generous underground parking. The logic is consistent: if a complex can deliver all of this within its own perimeter — and if it sits within reach of Gangnam's schools and commercial districts — then the name of the complex has begun to matter more than the name of the neighbourhood.
That is the directional shift currently underway in Seoul's luxury residential market.
A Closing Thought
Reading through this survey, many will find themselves drawn to a particular question.
Why do so many of Korea's most successful individuals choose to live in apartments — rather than private houses?
It is worth noting that this survey covers apartment complexes only. A number of high-net-worth individuals in Korea do, of course, live in detached houses or other property types. But the weight of the numbers here, and the clear pattern they suggest, points toward something worth examining more carefully.
In the next piece in this series, we will look at that question alongside comparative cases from Japan and the United States — where the relationship between wealth and housing type tells a rather different story.
This post is an observational record based on publicly available survey data.
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