Political Funds as Pocket Money? Even Paid Traffic Violation Fines [Leaking Donations]⑧

Cases of Using Political Funds for Personal Expenses Revealed
Returned After Late Election Commission's Warning

Editor's NoteIn the past, the reason for abolishing the district party offices was due to illegal political funds. Recently, the two major parties have been pushing for the revival of district party offices. The prerequisite for the revival of district party offices is the transparent use of political funds. What is the actual situation? Asia Economy requested information disclosure from the National Election Commission and regional election commissions and secured six months' worth of accounting reports before the expiration of the terms of 144 members of the 21st National Assembly. These individuals are now former lawmakers. Based on the secured data, we prioritized verification items by examining the appropriateness of expenditure purposes and usage locations. We confirmed with the parties involved and the election commission, and also conducted on-site reporting. We also uncovered the reality that the election commission does not properly verify accounting reports. We focus on verifying and reporting on the use of political funds by lawmakers near the end of their terms. ① Spending millions of won on office supplies at a kimchi factory logistics warehouse ② Using political funds for meals at Gangnam wine bars, hotels, and famous restaurants... 'Meetings = Gourmet tours?' ③ Retirement pay is illegal... 'Retirement gratuity' is legal ④ Large-scale holiday gifts to fellow lawmakers with political funds ⑤ Spending 10 million won 10 days before term expiration and going on a solo business trip to the U.S. ⑥ Large legal fees spent despite the election commission's 'no problem' response ⑦ Hundreds of thousands of won spent on supporting fellow politicians ⑧ Political funds as petty cash? Paid traffic violation fines

#Case 1. Former lawmaker Im Byeong-heon paid a fine of 40,000 won imposed by the Nam-gu Office of Daegu Metropolitan City on March 23 this year for a delayed safety inspection of a protocol vehicle using his political fund donation account. On March 29 of the same month, he paid a speeding fine of 32,000 won to the Daegu Nambu Police Station, also using the political fund donation account.

#Case 2. Former lawmaker Ryu Seong-geol also accounted for fines of 8,800 won and 1,900 won for official duty vehicles as political funds on December 20 last year. Former lawmaker Shim Sang-jung paid a penalty of 3,899,167 won on May 21 to terminate the lease of a protocol vehicle, including a fine of 40,000 won.

#Case 3. Former lawmaker Kim Du-gwan paid a fine of 5,430 won together with social insurance premiums for local office staff’s second payment on May 27 this year through the donation account. The fine was incurred due to delayed payment caused by insufficient account assets during the first social insurance payment on March 11.

These cases reveal that lawmakers used political funds for private expenses such as fines and returned the amounts after being pointed out by the election commission. According to the 'Accounting Reports of 21st Term Expired Lawmakers' secured by Asia Economy, former lawmaker Im returned the fines paid to the Nam-gu Office of Daegu and the Nambu Police Station in March to the political fund donation account on June 3, three months later. He was unaware that processing fines as political funds violated related laws and corrected the accounting after being pointed out by the National Election Commission.

The then accounting officer of former lawmaker Im’s office explained, "The election commission said fines must be paid through personal accounts, so the payment was made from the lawmaker’s personal account and explanatory materials were submitted to the election commission," adding, "It was a misunderstanding that fines related to protocol vehicles could be paid with political funds."

There are also cases where the fine was not recognized initially and corrected later. Former lawmaker Ryu returned the fines paid with political funds by combining the claims on January 17, and former lawmaker Kim also identified this later and separately processed the fines, returning the amounts paid from the donation account. Former lawmaker Shim returned the 40,000 won fine on May 27 and amended the political fund accounting report. In a phone interview, former lawmaker Ryu explained, "The accounting staff handled the fine processing, so I was not aware of the specific details."

The election commission prohibits the use of political funds for paying overdue fees and fines, considering such use as 'private expenses' or 'improper use.' An election commission official explained, "According to Article 2 (Basic Principles) Paragraph 3 of the Political Funds Act, debts arising from the debtor’s fault cannot be used as private expenses." The most recent case was in 2021 when former lawmaker Kim Sang-hee inquired whether overdue fees caused by delayed payment of electricity bills at a local office could be paid with political funds. The election commission interpreted that such use would violate the law as it constitutes private expenses or improper use based on the Political Funds Act.

The Political Funds Act also specifies detailed regulations on private expenses. It prohibits use for △ household support or assistance △ repayment or lending of personal debts △ membership fees or other support expenses for private gatherings such as hometown associations, alumni associations, clans, hiking clubs, or savings groups △ costs related to personal leisure or hobbies.

Although the election commission distributes political fund usage guides to lawmakers’ offices at the start of their terms and posts related materials on its website annually, cases of improper use of political donations continue. Another election commission official said, "When regularly reviewing accounting reports of each lawmaker’s office, cases of private expense use are frequently found." There are many cases where the lawmaker, who is the final person responsible for the accounting report, does not even properly understand the detailed usage of the funds.