JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
The Trunk’s Seo Hyun Jin becomes victim of 2.6 billion KRW housing scam; all we know about attempts to recover loss
Actress Seo Hyun Jin faces financial loss after landlord fails to return her multimillion-dollar jeonse deposit. It prompted legal action amid South Korea’s real estate downturn. Read more here!
Popular actress Seo Hyun Jin, recognized for her recent role opposite Gong Yoo in The Trunk, is now making headlines for an entirely different reason! An escalating legal and financial nightmare has left her entangled in one of South Korea’s growing housing scandals.
Multi-billion Won jeonse deposit at the center of dispute
According to reports from NewsPirit on June 2, Seo Hyun Jin filed for a public auction in April, 2025. It’s to retrieve a substantial jeonse deposit after her landlord defaulted on returning the amount when her lease expired.
Records from the Supreme Court confirm that the actress entered into a lease agreement in April 2020 for a villa located in the upscale Gangnam district of Seoul. Under the jeonse system, Seo Hyun Jin initially deposited 2.50 billion KRW (approximately 1.81 million USD). In 2022, she renewed her lease, increasing the deposit to 2.65 billion KRW (roughly 1.92 million USD).
Jeonse is a unique Korean rental method where tenants pay a large lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent. However, when the lease reached its end in early 2024, the landlord failed to return the deposit, despite Seo’s legal registration as a leaseholder. With no resolution in sight and the property rights on her side, she initiated legal proceedings in the form of a court auction to recover the money.
Property now deemed financially worthless
In a shocking development, the property has now been categorized as a ‘kkangtong house,’ a colloquial term meaning ‘tin can house.’ It is used to describe real estate that has lost so much market value it is now worth less than the total debt and deposits it carries. Though the villa was initially appraised at around 3 billion KRW, the first round of court-led bidding failed to attract a single buyer.
The latest court notice indicates the minimum bid has been slashed to 2.30 billion KRW, still significantly below the amount Seo Hyun Jin had paid. Analysts warn that the current economic climate and plummeting housing values in the Korean real estate market make a price recovery highly unlikely in the near future. As a result, the actress is poised to endure a painful financial loss.
Agency responds with caution
When contacted by reporters, Seo Hyun Jin’s agency, Management Soop, responded cautiously, stating, “It is difficult to confirm as it is a matter of her private life.” The agency refrained from sharing whether she intends to pursue further legal action beyond the court auction.
Despite setback, actress prepares for new drama
Amid this deeply personal financial struggle, Seo Hyun Jin remains committed to her acting career. She is currently preparing to star in the upcoming drama Love Me. It is a Korean adaptation of the Swedish series of the same name.
