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| Rep. Park Duk-hyum of the main opposition People Power Party attends an Environment and Labor Committee meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sept. 15. / Yonhap |
By Park Han-sol
Controversy is rising over the alleged conflict of interest of some lawmakers serving on the National Assembly's standing committees.
Calls are increasing for the creation of a law to ban lawmakers from working on committees that audit or review legislation relevant to organizations linked to the lawmakers or their families.
Most recently, Rep. Park Duk-hyum of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has been suspected of using his influence to ensure that companies run by members of his family won more than 100 billion won ($86 million) worth of construction orders from central and local government agencies.
Park has served on the Assembly's land, infrastructure and transport committee since 2015. As the committee conducts regular audits into the agencies and decides on related regulations, he is alleged to have used his position to help the companies win the bids.
In a press conference, Monday, Park denied all allegations, claiming the government agencies that placed orders with his family's companies were longtime customers even before he became a lawmaker and that the open competitive bidding process rendered any preferential treatment impossible.
Despite his denial, suspicions have grown and members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said that during the 20th Assembly, Park opposed bills aimed at imposing heavier punishments for construction companies who do not follow fair bidding processes and other issues.
Following the allegations, he stepped down from the land, infrastructure and transport committee and was appointed to the environment and labor committee, Sept. 10. The PPP also formed an emergency fact-finding body to conduct a special investigation into the suspicions.
Besides Park, another PPP lawmaker Yun Chang-hyun is under fire for his role in the national policy committee, which oversees policies related to ensuring fair trade practices. He was an outside director of Samsung C&T in 2015 and approved the controversial merger of the company and another Samsung affiliate, Cheil Industries ― a merger largely seen as a key step for Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong to strengthen his control over the group. Lee is on trial for alleged fraudulent financial activities surrounding the merger.
The ruling party has not been free from such allegations either. Former DPK lawmaker Sohn Hye-won was sentenced to 18 months in prison in August for using insider information gleaned from her participation in the culture, sports and tourism committee to purchase properties under other people's names in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, between March 2017 and September 2018.
In the wake of such allegations, some lawmakers have called for a bill to prevent lawmakers from serving on committees where there could be a conflict of interest.
Rep. Jung Chung-rae of the DPK announced Monday he would propose a revision bill to the National Assembly Act to give disciplinary action to lawmakers and remove them from their posts on the standing committees if the politicians themselves or their immediate family members' personal interests are linked to the work of the committees.
Rep. Lee Won-wook of the DPK suggested the Assembly investigate all 300 lawmakers to see whether any of them are working on committees that are related to their or their families' business.
