Senior officials declare W1.35b of personal assets on average

A total of 1,711 senior government and public officials declared an average 1.35 billion won ($1.26 million) of personal assets, up about 83 million won from a year earlier, the government gazette showed Thursday.

Under an anti-corruption law, senior officials at government agencies and national universities as well as other high-level public office holders are required to report the status of their assets to the Government Ethics Committee once a year.

According to this year's declaration carried by the official gazette, 74.8 percent, or 1,279, of the senior officials saw the value of their assets rise over the past year while the assets of 25.2 percent, or 432 people, decreased.

The wealthiest individuals included Heo Seong-joo, head of Seoul National University Dental Hospital, with 20.8 billion won and Kim Hong-sub, head of Incheon's Jung-gu district office, with 20.6 billion won. The two topped the list last year too.

Of all the officials, 17 reported that the value of their assets rose by more than 1 billion won, 40 reported an increase of 500 million won to 1 billion won and 460 people declared an increase of between 100 million won and 500 million won.

Reasons they cited for the increases included changes in the value of real estate or securities they're holding as well as savings and inheritance.

The committee plans to scrutinize the declarations and punish those who fail to fully disclose their assets.

Meanwhile, more than 8 in 10 lawmakers reported increases in their personal assets despite last year's economic slowdown.

As of December 2017, 245 lawmakers, 85.4 percent of the 287 lawmakers who disclosed their assets, said they saw their assets increase compared with what they reported in the previous year.