Ruling and Opposition Parties Opt to Remove Special Activity Expenses for Lawmakers

On August 12, ruling and opposition party lawmakers reportedly opted to eliminate the special activity expenses of the National Assembly.

On August 8, the Democratic Party of Korea and the Liberty Korea Party had agreed to maintain the special activity expenses, while improving transparency by obligating lawmakers to submit receipts of their spending. But as the controversy intensified with the Bareun Mirae Party and the Justice Party refusing to accept the special activity expenses and the public growing more critical of the parties’ decision, lawmakers seem to have decided to remove the budget item.

The ruling and opposition parties will meet with Moon Hee-sang, chairman of the National Assembly and the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, before they make their final announcement on removing the special activity expenses.

A Democratic Party lawmaker conveyed, "The opinion that in the current situation there is no need to maintain the special activity expenses, and that the item should be removed shared by the lawmakers especially among the leadership on the floor has been delivered to floor leader Hong Young-pyo, and Hong also agreed." Reportedly, the leaders of the Democratic Party decided to get rid of the special activity expenses after discussing this issue in a private meeting with the party's Supreme Council on August 10. This day, majority leader Hong wrote on Facebook, "After the announcement on the removal of the special activity expenses of the National Assembly, we met with criticism that our decision failed to meet the people's expectations, and the controversy continued over whether it meant we were eliminating the budget item or not due to unclear expressions. The lawmakers have not received special activity expenses since July, and as the majority party in parliament, we have a lot to think about due to restrictive conditions in the remaining regular parliamentary session, but we believe it's time for us to state our position more clearly." Public criticism has intensified due to the Democratic Party's compromise with the Liberty Korea Party and as the majority party in the National Assembly that must pass the Moon Jae-in government's reform legislation during the regular session, Hong appears to suggest that the getting rid of the special activities expenses was an inevitable choice.

The Liberty Korea Party also seems to have gathered support for the removal of the special activity expenses.

One Liberty Korea Party lawmaker said, "From what I know, specific discussions are underway to remove the special activities expenses." He added, "Lawmakers centered on the floor leadership, including floor leader Kim Sung-tae appear to have decided that they should not drag the debate on this issue any longer."

Previously in a meeting at the National Assembly on August 8, Democratic Party floor leader Hong Young-pyo, Liberty Korea Party floor leader Kim Sung-tae, and Bareun Mirae Party floor leader Kim Kwan-young discussed improvements to the special activity expenses and had agreed to record spending with receipts and other documents concerning expenses for official purposes beginning next year. They had decided to have the Subcommittee for System Improvements under the House Steering Committee to discuss and finalize whether or not to disclose the receipts and documents by the end of the year. However, the Bareun Mirae Party and the Justice Party argued for the complete abolition of the special activity expenses and decided not to join in the agreement.

As the Democratic Party and the Liberty Korea Party change direction to removing the special activity expenses, it appears more likely for lawmakers to discuss increasing the business expenses of the political parties when it comes to operating costs of the National Assembly.

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