"Conflict of Interest Standards Must Be Clarified to Reorganize Standing Committees"
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 23rd, Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, proposed a full investigation regarding the suspicion that Park Deok-heum, also a member of the People Power Party and a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, received preferential contracts for large-scale construction projects from supervised agencies through a construction company registered under his family's name, stating, "This is not the only case of conflict of interest in standing committees."
On the same day, Ha said on Facebook, "The current chairman of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea was the former minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which is a supervised agency," and added, "The ruling party's secretary of the Health and Welfare Committee was also the chairman of the National Pension Service, a supervised agency, until earlier this year."
Ha pointed out, "The National Assembly's core role is to check and monitor the executive branch, but during the national audit, a situation occurred where individuals audited themselves for actions taken during their tenure as ministers and chairpersons," calling it a "serious conflict of interest."
Ha stated, "The National Assembly must take a more proactive approach to solving these problems," and said, "A full investigation of all members of the National Assembly should be conducted, clear standards for conflicts of interest should be established, and standing committees should be reorganized accordingly."
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