Hanbyun to check whether lawmakers are observing conflict-of-interest rules

2024.06.25. The Fair Economy — The Lawyers' Association for Human Rights and Unification of the Korean Peninsula (Hanbyun) said on the 24th that it will file a request for disclosure of information on whether members of the 22nd National Assembly have avoided conflicts of interest.

Hanbyun noted that two years have passed since the Public Official Conflict of Interest Prevention Act took effect on May 19, 2022, and assessed that public officials have made efforts to build a clean public service through various reports and submissions required under the law.

It also said that central government agencies, local governments, and public institutions alike have spared no effort to comply with the regulations under the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act.

"Members of the National Assembly not only hold the status of public officials but were also key figures in drafting the Act on Prevention of Conflicts of Interest for Public Officials," Hanbyun said. "The National Assembly, as the representative body of the people, has set out rules requiring members to register their private interests with the National Assembly Ethics Review Advisory Committee under the National Assembly Act and to report and avoid conflicts of interest when reviewing bills in their standing committees, so that they can lead by example."

The National Assembly Act requires a member-elect to register with the Ethics Review Advisory Committee, within 30 days of the date on which they were confirmed as elected, the duties performed by the member or related parties up to that date. The act also obliges the committee to publish information about members in the National Assembly Gazette or on the National Assembly website within 30 days after the deadline for submitting opinions.

"Of the roughly 300 lawmakers elected in the April 10 general election, 131 are first-term members. The public will want to know whether these members and their families have had any private interests that conflict with the work of the standing committees they have been assigned to," Hanbyun said.

Hanbyun added, "To ensure a clean public service, especially to verify whether legislators are fulfilling their integrity obligations, we are filing information disclosure requests against the National Assembly to confirm whether all 22nd Assembly members have registered their private interests as required by the National Assembly Act, and whether reports or avoidance of conflict-of-interest concerns in standing committee assignments have been properly observed."