Lee Jun-seok "My First Lawmaker Salary Was 9,922,000 Won... No Time to Spend It"

MBN Real Variety Show 'GabojaGO' Season 2 Appearance

Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party, revealed his first salary.

On the 26th, in a pre-release video of MBN's real variety show 'GabojaGO' Season 2, when MC Sayuri asked how much a National Assembly member's salary is, Lee Jun-seok replied with a smile, "It was first deposited last month, and it was 9,922,000 won," adding, "This is exactly the kind of question elementary school students ask."

MBN Entertainment ‘GabojaGO’ Season 2 Pre-release Video

When asked, "Where did you spend your first salary?" he answered, "It's still in my bank account. I don't have time to spend it." When Ahn Jung-hwan joked, "We do a good job spending it for you, handling receipts and spending it neatly," Lee playfully responded, "Then I'll prepare crabs once a week. Not a savings club, but a crab club."

Regarding the rumor that National Assembly members have 108 benefits, he said, "90% of that is not true," and explained, "The benefits include access to the airport protocol room and the ability to visit countries like China without a visa using an official passport."

Minimum Annual Salary of National Assembly Members is 156.9 Million Won

According to the '2024 National Assembly Member Allowance Payment Standards' disclosed by the National Assembly Secretariat, each member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea receives a minimum annual salary of 156.9 million won. Specifically, this includes a general allowance of 7,079,000 won per month, a management duty allowance of 637,190 won, a bonus of 15,575,780 won, holiday and vacation pay of 8,495,880 won, legislative activity expenses of 3,136,000 won, and special activity expenses of 784,000 won. When converted to a monthly amount, it is about 12 million won, which is a 1.7% increase from the previous amount.

In addition, members receive monthly fuel and maintenance allowances of 1.1 million won and 358,000 won respectively, regardless of whether they actually own a vehicle. The salaries of nine aides, totaling over 500 million won annually, are paid separately, and members can also receive activity expenses such as KTX, airfare, and ship fare. Among the Korean public, where political aversion is widespread, there is a steady critical opinion that the salaries of assembly members are excessive.