With the growing criticism over the "second salary" lawmakers receive every month,... the National Assembly has decided to abolish the so-called "special activity" funds.
It will only leave a minimum amount to lawmakers that's solely related to national interest -- and lawmakers will have to be transparent about how that money is spent.
Kim Min-ji has the details.
The National Assembly has decided to completely do away with the so-called special activity funds,... with the exception of some areas related to core national interests, such as foreign affairs, security and trade.
That means there will be no opaque funds set aside for the parliament's negotiating parties and standing committees, no foreign travel expenses for lawmakers,... and no expenses that fall outside their original purpose... or that go against public sentiment.
"For 2018, we will only enforce minimum expenses that are commensurate with the money's purpose and return the remainder. We will also sharply cut the budget for the funds next year."
For this year, the budget set aside for special activity funds in parliament is roughly 5-and-a-half million U.S. dollars.
Half of that is earmarked for the second half of the year -- which the National Assembly has decided to cut by between 70 and 80 percent -- meaning there will only be around 440-thousand dollars used under the name of special activity funds.
The latest decision comes amid mounting controversy over the special activity funds... as some ranking lawmakers get tens of thousands of dollars a month,... on top of their salaries... but have been under no obligation to report how the money is spent.
On Monday, the floor leaders of the negotiating bodies agreed to scrap the funds on their part,... despite earlier plans to keep them but only in cases where they can turn in receipts or documentation.
But, the removal of the special activity funds has raised concerns that the National Assembly could just end up expanding its budget for official expenses... to make up for the loss.
The parliament said that it's willing to accept any requests to disclose how the special funds have been spent... after they've taken some time, until the end of this year, to prepare.
"The National Assembly also vowed to thoroughly review other areas of the budget allocated to the parliament, aside from the special activity funds,... saying that any areas deemed a waste or reckless will be cut. Kim Min-ji, Arirang News."
