[National Assembly Members' Asset Disclosure] Parents' and Children's Assets Remain 'Secret'... "Persistent Blind Spots in Asset Disclosure" (Comprehensive)

Among 300 People, 109 Refuse to Disclose Some Property Details of Relatives and Descendants
Proportion Slightly Lower Than Previous Years
Persistent Limitations in Monitoring Nominee Speculation

The Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 24th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The issue of refusal to disclose the assets of direct ascendants and descendants ('jon·bisok') remained unchanged in this year's disclosure of National Assembly members' assets. Four out of every ten members refused to disclose the asset details of their jon·bisok. This confirms that there are still limitations in preventing speculation using the names of jon·bisok solely through the current system of reporting changes in assets.

According to the 2020 asset change reports of 300 National Assembly members released by the National Assembly Public Officials Ethics Committee on the 25th, 109 members (36.3%, excluding those deceased or married) refused to disclose the asset details of their parents, children, or grandchildren.

Regarding reasons for refusal, the most common was the independent livelihood maintenance of parents or children. The asset details of 162 jon·bisok of National Assembly members were not disclosed, with independent livelihood maintenance (141 members) cited as the most frequent reason for refusal. This was followed by support of others (17 members) and other reasons (4 members).

Under the current asset disclosure system, even direct ascendants or descendants of National Assembly members can refuse to disclose assets if they are economically self-sufficient or not dependent, provided they obtain permission to refuse disclosure.

Looking at major political parties, differences were observed. Among members of the Democratic Party of Korea, 31.6% (55 out of 172) refused to disclose the assets of their jon·bisok, while 41.2% (42 out of 102) of members of the People Power Party refused. Among 10 independent members including Speaker Park Byeong-seok, 7 also did not disclose jon·bisok assets.

At least this year, the overall refusal rate for asset disclosure among National Assembly members slightly decreased compared to previous years. Last year, 119 out of 286 members (41.6%) refused to disclose jon·bisok assets, and in 2019, 114 out of 289 members (39.4%) did so.

There have been criticisms that the current system has loopholes because National Assembly members can refuse to disclose the assets of their jon·bisok.

Park Min-pyo, chairman of the National Assembly Public Officials Ethics Committee, appeared on MBC Radio’s ‘Kim Jong-bae’s Focus’ on the 22nd and pointed out the system’s limitations regarding the possibility of speculation using borrowed names, saying, "If someone intends to commit illegal acts, it is common to hide assets under someone else's name."

Lee Jeong-min, director of the Ethics and Service Management Bureau at the Ministry of Personnel Management, explained, “In the case of direct descendants, they are required to have independent residence and registration for at least one year,” adding, “It is true that there are counterarguments that abolishing the refusal disclosure system itself would violate constitutional prohibitions against excess and infringe on privacy and freedom.”

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