Half of the Assembly Got Richer Last Year

While the personal assets of 51 percent of lawmakers at the National Assembly increased in value, many lawmakers lost money due to a crash in the stock market last year, the Public Official Ethics Committee reported Wednesday.

In 2000, Representative Chung Mong-joon's personal wealth dropped to half of its 278.3 billion won ($220 million) in 1999, as the stock value of Hyundai Heavy Industries was halved.

Choo Chin-woo, a representative of the ruling Grand National Party and owner of Sajo Industries also lost 650 million won in assets because of a drop in the value of his company's stocks.

Lawmaker Kim Moo-sung, who had made a fortune by trading stocks, lost 4.5 billion won last year as the market plummeted.

Representative Kwack Chi-young of the Millennium Democratic Party, who is also president of the telecommunications firm Dacom, lost 290 million won because of a plunge in the Kosdaq.

On the other hand, lawmakers who invested in debt instruments, such as bonds, made good profits. Representative Lee Won-sung invested in bonds and increased his personal wealth by 390 million won. Representative Kim Hyo-seuk lost big on stocks, but gained a whopping 1.86 billion won from his bond holdings. His total assets increased by 440 million won.

Lawmaker Kim Jin-jae's assets increased by 520 million won through real estate investments.

Representative Kim Jung-sook, whose fortune now totals 8.4 billion won, expanded his assets by 540 million won even though he lost money investing in the stock market.

by Lee Jung-min