'Not just for leisure': Lee cautions lawmakers as gov't spends $4.2 million on diplomatic travel

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'Not just for leisure': Lee cautions lawmakers as gov't spends $4.2 million on diplomatic travel

Published: 25 Jun. 2025, 10:57 Updated: 25 Jun. 2025, 18:44

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

President Lee Jae Myung, fifth from right, hosts a dinner at the presidential residence in central Seoul with the new Democratic Party leadership on June 23. [NEWS1]

President Lee Jae Myung addressed diplomatic travel as a significant issue during a dinner with the ruling party’s new floor leadership on Monday, saying, “Diplomatic trips by lawmakers are not just for leisure. I ask you to work hard for the national interest going forward."

His remarks come amid growing attention on how members of the 22nd National Assembly have engaged in overseas trips during their first year in office, following an unprecedented 44 percent turnover in lawmakers.

Analysis by the JoongAng Ilbo of the National Assembly Secretariat’s “Reports on Parliamentary Diplomatic Visits and International Conferences” document showed that 257 lawmakers took trips to 92 countries between May 30, 2024, and May 31, 2025.

Most expenses for these official visits were covered by the secretariat.

Lawmakers' travel-related costs totaled 5.72 billion won ($4.2 million), averaging 22.3 million won per lawmaker. Of the total lawmakers, 63 were on overseas trips on days when plenary sessions took place.

Overseas travel despite Assembly in session

One such case occurred on Sept. 19 last year, when the Democratic Party (DP) led the passage of legislation regarding special counsel investigations into the death of a Marine, Chae Su-geun, and then-first lady Kim Keon Hee.

On that day, 10 members of the Korea-China Parliamentary Friendship Association — six from the DP, three from the People Power Party and one from the Rebuilding Korea Party — were in China for a meeting with their counterparts.

The National Assembly passes a partial amendment to the Prosecutors’ Disciplinary Act during a plenary session on June 5. [JOONGANG ILBO]

During party policy speeches on Feb. 10 to 11 this year, five lawmakers also traveled to Switzerland and Belgium, using 174.7 million won from the secretariat to explore climate change solutions.

According to internal regulations, lawmakers are not eligible for travel subsidies or administrative support in cases when the Assembly is in session, when a delegation consists of only one lawmaker without special justification or when a trip is dominated by members of a single party.

These clauses are advisory, however, and are considered largely ineffective, according to a secretariat official.

Business class favored

Airfares accounted for over half of the travel budget, totaling 3.45 billion won, amounting to about 13.3 million won per lawmaker.

A Korean Air Boeing 787-9 passenger jet [YONHAP]

Under government travel rules, lawmakers are classified the same as Cabinet ministers, making them entitled to first-class airfares — along with the president and prime minister.

The Assembly has set business class as the standard for official travel. Lawmakers preferred business class even for short-haul trips.

Two lawmakers in March flew business class to Tokyo and Osaka for a four-day trip to attend a friendship concert marking the 60th anniversary of normalized diplomatic ties between Korea and Japan, spending around 1.65 million won each on airfares.

“There are cheaper options like flying economy to reduce public spending, but almost nobody chooses that,” a senior National Assembly official with experience on such trips said.

Need for audits

Most diplomatic visits were to long-haul destinations, as lawmakers traveled to Europe 40 times, North America 12 times and Latin America six times.

While the stated purpose was to learn from political and industrial systems in advanced countries, one DP aide said, “They often pick destinations with a lot to see.”

Three lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties visited Paris in August last year to watch the women’s badminton and men’s archery finals during the Olympics.

Another group of four lawmakers traveled to Paris again in early September to see the Paralympics.

In contrast, there were only 26 trips to Asian countries, half of which were to Japan.

“The current system makes it difficult to measure the outcomes of parliamentary trips," said Chae Jin-won, a professor at the Public Governance Institute at Kyung Hee University. "A system for post-travel audits and evaluations is needed so lawmakers can avoid criticism that they are wasting taxpayer money.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM JEONG-JAE [[email protected]]