Bill would require relatives of president to list wealth

Home > National > Politics

print dictionary print

Bill would require relatives of president to list wealth

The government is drawing up a bill intended to prevent corruption cases involving relatives of the president. The bill, scheduled to reach the National Assembly in September, would require that the blood relatives of the Korean president list their holdings and any changes in wealth every year. Penalties for violating the proposed law would be stiff.

President Kim Dae-jung announced his intention to curb the number of corruption cases involving elected officials and their families on Monday. The Blue House, the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs are involved with the bill.

Government officials said the draft would specify exactly whom the bill would regulate. The existing law allows lineal relatives who are not dependents of government officials to avoid filing reports on their wealth. "Based on this clause, former president Kim Young-sam's second son Hyun-chul and President Kim Dae-jung's sons Hong-up and Hong-gul did not report their property," an official said. All three became enmeshed in corruption scandals.

The president's paternal relatives who are closer than fourth cousins and kin from his mother's side closer than second cousin will probably be required to report their property under the bill. These relatives are now overseen by the presidential secretary for civil affairs.

"Punishing a president's relatives for receiving bribes has been difficult, as they are not civil servants," said an official. "To resolve such problems, we're considering imposing harsher punishments on corrupt involvement of relatives."

Both major presidential candidates, Roh Moo-hyun and Lee Hoi-chang, have called for legislation to address the issue. Some argue, however, that such a bill would infringe basic rights and that that independent prosecutors offer a more effective check on corruption among the president's kin.

by Chun Young-gi

Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)