<Anchor> The
principle is that public officials do not touch anything that can benefit them.
However, while Rep. Park Deok-heum, the power of the people, was a member of the National Assembly in charge of construction for five years, his family was overwhelmed with suspicion that he won the construction of state agencies while running a construction company.
At the same time, the same party, Rep. Yoon Chang-hyun, was also caught up in a similar conflict of interest controversy.
This is reporter Baek Woon.
<Reporter>
Rep. Park Deok-heum, a former construction company.
Rep. Park, who first received the National Assembly badge in 2012, has been a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Commission since 2015, and was controversial over a conflict of interest that construction companies whose families are major shareholders received large-scale construction orders from the audited organization.
114.4 billion won in the name of the order amount for projects from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and affiliates and technology usage fees, KRW 115.7 billion from local governments and affiliates such as Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, and 2,300 in the amount raised by the Democratic Party lawmakers and civic groups. It is a billion won.
The amount of orders that are suspicious is increasing, and the period of tenure alone is in the 178 billion won range.
The Democratic Party is calling for a thorough investigation as it has been accused by an investigative agency, and is even demanding the resignation of the office.
Rep. Park said, "The amount of orders from construction companies with suspicions decreased after Park was elected," and is also considering legal response to the related reports.
The problem is that the same party's Rep. Yoon Chang-Hyun, while serving as an outside director of Samsung C&T, agreed to the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in connection with the alleged succession of vice chairman Lee Jae-yong's illegal management rights.
Being in the Political Affairs Committee of the National Assembly deliberating on Samsung-related bills is being asked to move to another standing committee as there is a risk of conflict of interest.
Although the legal standards for the issue of conflicts of interest of members of the National Assembly have not been established, the political circles should show proactive debate on the legislative debate on the'Prevention of Conflict of Interest for Public Officials Act', which has been put forward in the National Assembly.
(Video coverage: Ha Ryung, video editing: Kim Jong-woo)