LH Public Outrage: "No Exceptions for Gold Badges" Operations Committee Pushes 'National Assembly Members Conflict of Interest Prevention Act'

LH Public Outrage Spreads...Lawmakers' 'Land Speculation Allegations' Escalate
Becomes a Political Black Hole Ahead of April 7 By-Election
Public Hearing on 26th Last Month...Stalled National Assembly Act Amendment Resurfaces
Ruling and Opposition Parties Agree on Speeding Up Conflict of Interest Legislation...“Will Accelerate”
Key Focus on Completely Excluding Lawmakers' Private Gain from Official Duties

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] As suspicions of land speculation involving the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) have surfaced, momentum is building to pass the long-stalled "Conflict of Interest Prevention Act for Members of the National Assembly," which has been delayed for eight years. This law prohibits unfair personal gain by lawmakers and has been described as the "National Assembly wielding a sword against its own members." Since its proposal in 2013, it has not been enacted into law. However, with the April 7 by-elections approaching and public outrage over the LH land speculation allegations not subsiding, both ruling and opposition parties are now pushing hard for its passage.

On the 11th, Kim Young-jin, the ruling party's senior deputy floor leader and the National Assembly Steering Committee's ruling party whip, told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "We will discuss with the opposition to ensure it passes as soon as possible." Kim Sung-won, the opposition party's senior deputy floor leader and the Steering Committee's opposition whip, also said, "Our party was originally more proactive on this issue," adding, "We will reach a conclusion with a sense of urgency."

Since there is little disagreement between the ruling and opposition parties on the bill's passage and a public hearing has already been held, the bill could be processed as early as March or April, or within the first half of this year. The land speculation suspicions that began with LH have expanded to include lawmakers such as Kim Kyung-man and Yang Yi-won-young, fueling public demand to "monitor conflicts between lawmakers' private interests and public duties."

However, setting the scope of conflicts of interest for lawmakers is expected to be challenging. The law regulates lawmakers from engaging in profit-seeking or personal gain related to their duties in standing committees, but since lawmakers can participate in the review of nearly all bills, the scope of conflicts of interest could become excessively broad.

Additionally, the review of conflicts of interest for lawmakers is being handled by the Steering Committee, while conflicts of interest for public officials excluding lawmakers are being reviewed by the Political Affairs Committee. If the details of the two bills differ, issues of fairness may arise. On the 9th, ruling party members of the Political Affairs Committee urged the passage of the Public Officials Conflict of Interest Prevention Act during a back briefing, explaining, "Conflicts of interest for lawmakers will be addressed through amendments to the National Assembly Act led by the Steering Committee, while the bill promoted by the Political Affairs Committee concerns other public officials," adding, "We will regulate the National Assembly Act amendments separately and cover any gaps in the Public Officials Conflict of Interest Prevention Act."

Meanwhile, the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act for Members of the National Assembly focuses on fundamentally excluding broad personal gain activities related to lawmakers' standing committee activities. For example, in 2019, Democratic Party lawmaker Son Hye-won was suspected of purchasing real estate related to the Mokpo old downtown regeneration project while serving on the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee. In 2020, People Power Party lawmaker Park Deok-heum was suspected of receiving construction contracts from agencies under his jurisdiction while serving on the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee. These cases sparked serious discussions on the issue.

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