Local politicians break campaign funding laws

An investigation by the National Election Commission (NEC) shows that of 227 local candidates in the April 13 general election, 200 broke campaign-funding laws. Typical violations included under-reporting election treasuries and omitting receipts.

According to one source interviewed on Sunday, "The National Assembly representatives who have been found by the NEC to have either destroyed receipts or have made payments through accounts other than the election fund accountant account number 200. Only 27 representatives were free of even single cases of such illegality."

The NEC has referred findings in the more serious cases involving active members of the National Assembly to the Prosecutor¡¯s Office for criminal investigation. In cases where the violations were deemed unintentional or insignificant, candidates will be issued warnings, or will be invited to participate in the fair election campaign. According to the current election laws, local representatives can report up to 159 million won for run-up activities prior to the election. These funds are not considered to be part of the candidate¡¯s election campaign fund.

Kong Jong-Sik kong@donga.com