Lawmakers vote for bills during the full floor meeting of the National Assembly in Seoul on May 20, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Representatives at the National Assembly are scrambling to collect donations to prepare for next year’s activities.
This year, district representatives can collect up to 300 million won (US$265,500) while proportional representatives can collect up to 150 million won.
Members of the ruling Democratic Party are speeding up efforts to fill the maximum amount of donations.
Rep. Park Wan-joo, for one, sent text messages to supporters reporting on the results of the recent National Assembly audit, including a bank account number for donations “to return the favor by creating better policies.”
The main opposition People Power Party, on the other hand, plans to go ‘low profile’ on donation campaigns as many members are asking for donations ‘behind closed doors,’ while leaving bank account numbers on their personal blogs.
Rather than publicly asking for donations on open channels such as Facebook, they are tapping into personal connections for financial support.
Representatives are more eager to engage in donation campaigns this year because of the coronavirus, which has prompted the cancellation of a number of fundraising events including regular briefings.
Things look worse for new representatives that set foot in the National Assembly in June, since they don’t have enough of a history or support to raise the maximum amount of donations.
“We are desperate for donations,” said one of the newly elected representatives in the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area. “We lack experience, and coupled with the coronavirus, we have basically given up donations this year.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
