By Kwaak Je-yup

Pricey pieces of real estate are often associated with celebrities who have made it big.

According to a list unveiled Tuesday by Chaebul.com, a specialist website on the wealthiest Koreans, household-name pop stars and actors own properties in the most lucrative areas of Seoul as investment.

Seo Taiji, a '90s pop star and Korean music legend, is placed atop the real estate chart with a building he purchased in 2002 in Nonhyeon-dong, southern Seoul, currently
valued at around 29.5 billion won.

The nine-level structure is built on 722.5 square meters of land, where the appraised value this year is approximately 9.5 million won per square meter.

There are other properties registered to his and his family members' names, like his house in Pyeongchang-dong, northern Seoul, but residences were not included in the statistics.

The runner-up was Korea's Brangelina Jang Dong-gun and Ko So-young. The actor couple owns three buildings on both sides of the river, whose total value amounts to about 28.3 billion won. Jang, a former heartthrob and one of the country's highest-paid actors, has a Hannam-dong building close to Itaewon, central Seoul, to his name, valued at 12.6 billion won. Ko, also one of the best-paid in entertainment, owns two buildings in the southern Seoul areas of Nonhyeon-dong and Cheongdam-dong with a combined value of around 15.7 billion won.

Cha In-pyo and Shin Ae-ra, an actor couple married for 16 years, were in third place, with their joint-registered 22.3-billion-won building in Cheongdam-dong, one of Seoul's prime pieces of real estates.

Park Joong-hoon, a movie star known for action and comedy films, is next with a Yeoksam-dong building in southeastern Seoul, valued at 14.1 billion won.

The biggest surprise list was Jang Keun-suk in fifth who at the age of 24 owns a 14-billion-won property in Cheongdam-dong. Jang, who made his debut as a child actor in 1997, is expected to rise even further up the rankings as he also has a large fan base in Japan.

In sixth is Yu In-chon, a veteran movie, stage and TV actor, former minister of culture, sports and tourism and currently special advisor to President Lee Myung-bak on culture. He jointly owns with his wife a building in Cheongdam-dong valued at 11.1 billion won.

Celebrity couples Kim Seung-woo and Kim Nam-ju and Lee Jae-ryong and Yoo Ho-jung came in seventh and eighth respectively. The Kim's own properties in southern Seoul, in Cheongdam-dong and Samseong-dong, which were appraised at 10.9 billion won while the building registered under the Lee-Yoo couple has a price tag of 10.3 billion won.

Rounding out the top ten were Choi Ran, a veteran actress, often in supporting roles, and Park Jin-young, a pop star, producer and music executive, now best known for his work at his agency JYP Entertainment. Both located again in Cheongdam-dong, Choi's building was assessed at 9.9 billion won and Park's 9.3 billion won.

Chaebul.com said the values were ranked according to individually announced public land prices, the actually traded land prices, as well as depreciation.