Properties of lawmakers

How much property do the new lawmakers of the incumbent 16th National Assembly own?

According to the National Assembly gazette Sunday, the average assets of the 127 new entrants subject to register their properties are 1.61 billion won (about $1.44 million) per capita.

Their holdings are considerably large, especially when compared to those of ordinary citizens, but the figure is still about half of the 3.21 billion won average for the 15th National Assembly.

By party, the assets of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) lawmakers increased sharply, while those of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) lawmakers decreased drastically, according to the gazette.

The average assets per capita in the 15th Assembly were 3.96 billion won (GNP), 1.16 billion won (MDP) and 4.31 billion won (United Liberal Democrats). But in the current House, MDP lawmakers were on top with 1.747 billion won per capita, followed by 1.87 billion won per person for GNP members. Lawmakers of the splinter ULD still own the most, averaging 5.38 billion won each.

The ruling party lawmakers may have surpassed their GNP rivals because some wealthy businesspeople joined their ranks. They include Chang Young-shin, who has assets worth 21.46 billion won, and Park Sang-Hee, with 11.27 billion won. The ULD could remain the "rich person`s" party, thanks to the substantial assets of Ahn Dae-Ryun (14.96 billion won) and Cho Hee-Wook (8.6 billion won), both of whom were elected in the national constituency under the proportional representation system. The National Democratic Party recorded the largest amount on average among the four parties as its sole lawmaker, Kang Sook-Ja, registered 6.9 billion won.

Meanwhile, lawmakers who registered properties worth less than 100 million won numbered six. Min Bong-Ki of the GNP, who was a ward office chief, reported the smallest assets with minus 54 million won.