Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Lawmakers collect W38 Bil. in donations
By Jun Ji-hye
A total of 298 lawmakers received 38.2 billion won ($35.7 million) in political donations last year, according to the National Election Commission (NEC) Thursday.
An average of 128 million won was given to each.
The NEC disclosed material containing the amount lawmakers received in fund-raising in accordance with the Political Fund Law.
The total amount fell by 6.7 billion won compared to the previous year when the election watchdog conducted the general elections.
“The decline seems to be because the maximum legal limit for the political donations is less than that in an election year,” said an NEC official.
The law stipulates that each lawmaker can collect a maximum of 150 million won per year, and 300 million won for a year when general elections are held.
The material showed that lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party collected a total of 19.5 billion won, while those from the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) received 16.3 billion won. Legislators from the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party (UPP) were given 869 million won, while those from Justice Party raised 779 million won.
Some 38 members from the governing camp, 42 from the DP, two from the UPP, three from the Justice Party and two independent lawmakers exceeded the limit.
Rep. Yoon Sang Hyun, the governing camp’s vice floor leader, and independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo were among them, receiving 152 million won and 153 million won, respectively.
Rep. Park Won-suk of the Justice Party took the No.1 ranking, collecting 195 million won.
“Supporters donate through various methods including credit cards or account transfers. So, there can be some cases where the maximum limit can be exceeded before lawmakers are aware,” said the official. “The NEC checks whether or not the lawmaker had any intention of exceeding the limit. If so, the commission takes appropriate steps including filing complaints.”
In the meantime, those categorized as members of the pro-President Park Geun-hye faction attracted attention as they collected a considerable amount of money. Saenuri Party Chairman Rep. Hwang Woo-yea secured 149 million won, while Rep. Kim Moo-sung received 150 million won.
Notably, Ahn Hong-chul, president of the Korea Investment Corporation, donated 5 million won to Reps. Choi Kyung-hwan and Yoo Jeong-bok of the ruling party. Floor Leader Choi is a noted pro-Park figure, while Yoo, former minister of security and public administration, recently declared his bid for Incheon mayor in the June 4 local elections.
Five million won is the most a person can donate to an individual lawmaker.