[Update] IU under fire for what’s been revealed as buying an office for her mom & helping junior musicians for free

According to a recent report, real estate that IU invested in has become profitable thanks to the coming development of GTX high-speed rail system in Korea. The article itself basically just covers the fact that she allegedly stands to make money.

As a result, the land that IU bought at 4.6 billion won (approximately $4,128,454) is now estimated to be at a market price of 6.9 billion won (approximately $6,192,750), which is 2.3 billion won (approximately $2,064,411) more than what she originally paid.

Of course, others were in line to have their property rocket upward in value, but she was the only woman and only celebrity.

On the list of people who benefitted from the opening of new GTX lines, IU was the only celebrity and female. Reports further stated that she also received the biggest benefit.

So if that sounds like a relatively normal investment thing, then you’d be right. However, netizens accused her of insider knowledge.

People argued that the singer must have been tipped off about the cities that the new GTX lines will pass through. In the end, they accused her of buying the land with the intention to sell it off at a higher price in the future.

IU’s agency then denied the allegations.

The agency said, “It is true that IU bought a building near Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province last January. However, she only bought it for her personal use.” They continued, “The building currently has IU’s personal studio and a room with 4-5 private practice booths for her junior artists for whom she provides support. The rest of the building space is being used as an office for her mother’s business.” They concluded, “She has no intention of selling it at any time soon. Also, the profit of 2.6 billion won is impossible. The information itself is not correct. The only reason she chose the location is because it’s close to her home in Bangbae.”

There’s currently Blue House petitions asking the government to investigate this matter. However, the fact that they are asking for an investigation seems to indicate that as of now, there’s isn’t much to this other than people buying property that’s increased in value recently. And given IU’s previous run-ins with antis and what not, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is being blown up primarily by them as well.

Honestly, looking at the facts we know at the moment, it’s difficult to ascertain what exactly the problem is.

Sky E-Daily reported that IU was among those who benefitted from the opening of new high-speed rail system GTX lines. Three new lines that connect Seoul to the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province are currently being developed, and the report stated that the land that IU bought in January 2018 was included in one of the cities that the new lines will pass through.

Yeah, I don’t understand the issue, because in both Korean and English publications, it’s been public knowledge since at least 2017 that this project was going into the area IU bought land in 2018. So unless there’s anything more to this, and there hasn’t been any indication there is yet, it seems like a whole lot of noise over a savvy long-term real estate investment.

Now if there’s an investigation and it turns out she had insider knowledge and was going to use it for a quick turnaround on the property in question or whatever, then I agree it’s a moral gray area that’s only a step or two away from what known monsters like Martha Stewart did, but as of now it rationally doesn’t seem like a whole lot.

Update

Real estate experts have disputed the claim made by netizens that IU bought the property with the intent of turning it around quickly for profit.

Real estate experts have spoken and it is unlikely (as we already been knew) that IU bought that land with the intent of selling for high-profit.https://t.co/CAz6V5fTYk — Lee Jieun call me (@thequietuaena) January 7, 2019

"the real estate industry sides with IU's/IU's company's claims. An expert explains that bc the area she purchased has many construction/development limitations, it is not a good location to choose (for that purpose)." — Lee Jieun call me (@thequietuaena) January 7, 2019

real estate expert and Director Park Jong Bok of 'Miso Real Estate': "The area of land IU acquired is not that active/busy. Bc it's a quiet setting, it's a preferred area for residential purpose or for those wanting a long-term investment." — Lee Jieun call me (@thequietuaena) January 7, 2019

Director Park Jong Bok: "We can speculate if the area is a greenbelt area or not, if it can be farmed, etc., but IU's case is different. This is a piece of land where no matter how much the land price goes up, you won't be able to receive much back in rewards." — Lee Jieun call me (@thequietuaena) January 7, 2019

he also mentioned she also bought it for a high price per pyeong. Basically, if she were trying to make a profit out of it, she would never have bought that land and that land at that price…LOL — Lee Jieun call me (@thequietuaena) January 7, 2019

So yeah, it basically seems like a solid area for a long-term investment that one would purchase when they plan on keeping and using it for a while, which is what IU said was going on.

Additionally, IU’s agency, Kakao M, released a statement on IU’s official Facebook page in response to this mess. It included pictures of the property in question and an explanation on what it’s being used for.

Okay, so basically, IU’s real estate purchase was a building that she’s using as an office and there’s no indication that she ever intended to turn around and sell it quickly. Despite netizens mocking the possibility that IU would use an office building in the boonies somewhere, it turns out that’s exactly what the fuck she did.

On top of that, not only was she not being shady about the real estate purchase, but it turns out she had been using the property to provide a space for junior musicians to practice and record free of charge.

The only unfortunate thing that has come as a result of this is that the building’s location, where all of this had gone down privately, has now been revealed to the public.

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The response from Kakao M and IU has been so thoroughly overwhelming that it almost makes me think this was a story planted by IU’s people so that the media would be forced to cover that she’s a real estate genius, loving daughter, and charitable senior who quietly takes care of juniors. 10D chess.

Seriously though, I’m curious if anything else comes from it or if people just pretend they never tried it or what.