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[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] An attempt to amend the Korea National Assembly Members’ Association Promotion Act to provide additional senior member pensions to 111 veteran members has been detected. This law, commonly referred to as the 'National Assembly Members’ Pension Act,' includes provisions to support veteran National Assembly members with 1.2 million KRW monthly, which has sparked controversy as a 'waste of taxpayers' money.' Although a Korea National Assembly Members’ Association official was found to have visited various lawmakers' offices to circulate documents and request signatures for the bill proposal, the association denied having ever created such a proposal.

According to documents obtained by Asia Economy on the 28th, the Korea National Assembly Members’ Association attempted to amend the Promotion Act to include an additional 111 members who were not previously eligible for the senior member support fund. The purpose was to grant benefit rights to 111 veteran members who served as National Assembly members before the 18th National Assembly but were under 65 years old at the time and thus did not receive support. Both ruling and opposition parties agreed during the 19th National Assembly that public opinion was unfavorable toward the support fund, and amended the law so that former National Assembly members who had not reached 65 years of age as of December 31, 2013, would not be eligible for the fund.

The Korea National Assembly Members’ Association Secretariat visited lawmakers’ offices to collect signatures to meet the required number of lawmakers for the bill proposal. A staff member from one lawmaker’s office who received the proposal at the time stated, "A person affiliated with the Korea National Assembly Members’ Association came to the office to request a signature on the bill, but we did not agree with the purpose and therefore did not sign." The association mentioned a certain opposition lawmaker as the bill’s main proposer, but it was confirmed that the lawmaker declined.

The document contains the phrase, "By restoring the rights of 111 veteran members who have suffered damages by not exercising rights they should have naturally received, it clarifies that such rights should not be applied unequally among members due to social atmosphere or incidental circumstances." Former Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo, who was elected as an independent in the 21st general election, and former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Dal-gon, elected as a member of the United Future Party from Changwon Jinhae, also meet the eligibility criteria. The attached list of 111 eligible members includes Kim Moon-soo, former co-chairman of the Christian Liberty Unification Party’s election countermeasures committee.

The Korea National Assembly Members’ Association estimated that if additional payments were made to the 111 members, approximately 879 million KRW would be required in 2020. This amount assumes about 61 recipients, based on the current 55% receipt rate of the senior member support fund. Under the 'Additional Budget Estimate' section, it explains, "Only half of the eligible recipients currently receive the support fund, and since about 20 members naturally decrease each year, no further increases are expected after this year’s increment." The current law imposes some restrictions, such as disqualifying recipients whose household average monthly income or net real estate assets exceed the association’s bylaws standards.

Additionally, the current name 'Senior Member Support Fund' was criticized for not reflecting the contributions of veteran members to Korea’s founding, industrialization, and democratization, and the proposal included changing the name to 'Constitutional Development Support Fund,' along with provisions to prohibit seizure of the support fund to strengthen livelihood protection for recipients.

A Korea National Assembly Members’ Association official denied the contents in a phone interview with Asia Economy, stating, "We have never drafted such a document."

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