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Viva Republica chief pilloried after scaling back April Fools' Day offer of employee housing support

Published: 02 Apr. 2026, 20:11 Updated: 03 Apr. 2026, 16:01

Lee Seung-gun, CEO of financial tech company Viva Republica, speaks at a press conference held in eastern Seoul on Feb. 26, 2026. [NEWS1]

Talk about a good deed never going unpunished — Lee Seung-gun, the head of the financial tech company Viva Republica, the entity behind the popular financial app Toss, came under fire from his staff for promising to sell his house to support 10 of his employees, instead of the 100 he had initially promised a day ago.

Lee pledged on Wednesday, April Fools’ Day, to provide lifetime housing support for 100 employees, but scaled the plan down just a day later to one-year support for 10 employees.

Lee owns an apartment in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, valued at 32.6 billion won ($21.5 million).

“I became aware of the gap between those who build wealth through real estate and those who struggle with housing costs,” Lee said on Wednesday. “As I thought about the future of our community, I decided to put this into action.”

Eligible employees include those currently paying rent or mortgage interest. Employees who already own homes can also apply, provided they continue repaying their mortgages, while those without housing-related expenses cannot apply.

Selected employees will receive full coverage of their rent or mortgage interest payments.

On Thursday, however, the company's employees took to online forums to argue that they "felt insulted" by Lee's pledge.

"This is the worst April Fools' Day joke ever," wrote an anonymous employee in an online forum.

The company explained that the announcement was made as part of Lee's expression of gratitude toward the staff.

Lee has become known for April Fools’ initiatives that sound unlikely but are carried out in practice. In 2022, he gave employees Tesla vehicles, and last year he sent staff on an overseas group trip to mark the company’s return to profitability, covering both events with his personal funds.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]