Democratic Party: "COVID-19, National Assembly Must Share Burden... Proposing 50% Salary Donation"

Democratic Party to Support Vulnerable Groups with Half of Remaining 20th National Assembly Salaries at Highest Council Meeting on 18th
Cheongwadae National Petition: "Idle Lawmakers Should Use Salary Return as Opportunity for Reflection" Gains 230,000 Supporters
Total Annual Salary of Lawmakers in 2020: 151.88 Million Won

Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 18th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Wondara and Heo Midam] The Democratic Party of Korea is pushing for a plan to donate half of the salaries of National Assembly members to vulnerable groups suffering from the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party, said on the morning of the 18th after the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly, "There was an opinion to collect half of the salaries and support vulnerable groups," adding, "If the Supreme Council members agree, I will convey this to the floor leaders of both ruling and opposition parties."

Seol Hoon, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, said, "Voluntary cooperation of the people to overcome COVID-19 is continuing in various ways," and added, "During the International Monetary Fund (IMF) foreign exchange crisis, it was possible to overcome the crisis because there were people who voluntarily participated in the gold collection campaign."

He continued, "The National Assembly cannot be an exception in sharing the pain," and proposed, "I suggest that the National Assembly join together by donating half of the salaries for March, April, and May, which are the remaining months of the 20th National Assembly term, to support vulnerable groups. I hope lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties will unite in this intention." It was reported that other Supreme Council members also expressed their agreement.

According to the National Assembly Secretariat, the total annual salary of a National Assembly member this year was set at 151.88 million KRW, an increase of 1.2 million KRW compared to the previous year. The salary for three months per member is about 37.97 million KRW, so the amount to be donated would be approximately 18.99 million KRW.

Meanwhile, a post titled "We propose that National Assembly members return or reduce half of their monthly salary due to the crisis caused by COVID-19" posted on the Blue House National Petition website on the 11th has received 230,941 endorsements as of 10:30 AM.

The petitioner pointed out, "The people elect National Assembly members and they receive their salaries from taxpayers' money, but even though the National Assembly was closed for several months last year, they still received their full salaries."

They emphasized, "This time should be an opportunity for National Assembly members to repent for past mistakes by voluntarily returning or reducing their salaries and to help the country in difficulty even a little." Blue House or government officials are required to respond within one month to petitions that receive more than 200,000 endorsements.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.