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South Korea Releases Asset Filings Showing Wealthy Parliament and Broad Gains

Ethics officials plan reviews by June that could trigger penalties.

Overview

  • The National Assembly’s ethics report, released Thursday, showed 164 of 287 disclosing lawmakers held over 1.5 billion won in assets and 88.5 percent grew wealth in 2025.
  • Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Park Duk-hyum were the wealthiest at 125.72 billion won and 54.79 billion won, with Ahn’s fortune tied mostly to AhnLab shares.
  • Across 1,903 senior officials, average assets were 2.09 billion won as of end-2024, and President Lee Jae Myung disclosed about 4.98 billion won after a sharp rise from book royalties.
  • Asset gaps were stark, as Startups Minister Han Seong-sook reported 22.3 billion won while Prime Minister Kim Min-seok listed 330 million, and some lawmakers posted negative net worth due to debt.
  • The Government Ethics Committee said it will review the declarations by June and could impose penalties, with this year’s lawmaker list excluding sitting ministers, a detained member, and those who lost seats after convictions.