With about a month remaining in the term of the 21st National Assembly, the ruling and opposition parties are delaying the holding of the Special Ethics Committee, and 52 disciplinary measures against National Assembly members are expected to be scrapped. Rep. Kim Nam-guk, who left the Democratic Party of Korea amid the ‘virtual asset (coin) controversy’ and is now reinstated through the Democratic Alliance, is expected to eventually complete his term as a member of the National Assembly without disciplinary action.
According to the National Assembly Bill Information System on the 23rd, there were a total of 53 disciplinary bills for National Assembly members proposed in the 21st National Assembly, of which only one, former People Power Party representative Kim Ki-hyun, passed the plenary session. The remaining 52 cases are pending in the Special Committee on Ethics, but since neither the ruling and opposition parties are discussing convening the Special Committee on Ethics, it is expected that it will be difficult to hold a meeting during the remaining term. Of these, 47 cases were never dealt with by the Special Ethics Committee.
During the four years of the 21st National Assembly, plenary meetings of the Special Committee on Ethics were held only nine times. The National Assembly’s Ethics Review Advisory Committee, comprised of outside experts, is also halting discussions on disciplinary action against three lawmakers who recommended expulsion, the highest level of disciplinary action. In addition to Rep. Kim Nam-guk, Rep. Park Deok-heum of the People’s Power Party, who was embroiled in controversy over receiving contracts from family companies of the audited organizations, and independent Rep. Mi-hyang Yoon, who was suspected of embezzling donations from the Justice and Memory Solidarity, are also expected to finish their term as members of the National Assembly without disciplinary action.
The practice of automatically discarding disciplinary bills for National Assembly members due to the reputational ineffectiveness of the Special Ethics Committee is being repeated. A total of nine plenary meetings of the Ethics Special Committee were held in the 20th National Assembly, but 42 of the 47 disciplinary proposals submitted were collectively discarded due to the expiration of the term. Three cases were withdrawn, and two cases were excluded from review after the deadline for requesting disciplinary action (within 10 days of occurrence and recognition of the cause) passed. In the end, not a single case passed the plenary session. During the 19th National Assembly, 19 ethics special committee meetings were held, but out of 39 cases, 33 were eventually discarded and 6 were withdrawn. The disciplinary bill against former Saenuri Party lawmaker Shim Hak-bong, who was accused of sexual assault, passed the Ethics Special Committee, but was scrapped after former lawmaker Shim resigned before the plenary session passed it.
Reporter Myungjin Yoon mjlight@donga.com
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