Political donations to lawmakers down 24 pct in 2021: data

Politics 14:44 February 25, 2022

SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- Political donations to lawmakers last year declined 24.3 percent from a year earlier, data from the state's election watchdog showed Friday.

Financial contributions to lawmakers reached 40.7 billion won (US$33.8 million) last year, down from 53.8 billion won in 2020, when the April 15 parliamentary elections were held, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).

Lawmakers on average received 135.2 million won in donations last year, down from 179.4 million won in 2020.

By party, members of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) received 142.1 million won on average, while those representing the main opposition People Power Party collected 131.9 million won. Lawmakers with the progressive Justice Party and the minor opposition People's Party received 153 million won and 60 million won in donations, respectively.

A total of 113 lawmakers received more than the donation cap of 150 million won. Under the law, parliamentary members can collect more than 150 million won if they fundraise through online payments or credit cards but not more than 20 percent of the limit.

Rep. Ki Dong-min of the DP raised the most funds with 176.1 million won, while Rep. Jeon Hae-cheol of the DP had zero donations as he shut down his donation account after becoming the interior minister.

Meanwhile, donations to headquarters of 29 political parties totaled 5.1 billion won last year, according to the NEC.

The PPP had the most with 1.4 billion won, followed by the Justice Party with 998 million won. The DP only collected 561 million won.