In spite of the economic downturn straining everyday life for ordinary Koreans, 7 out of every 10 members of the parliament and senior officials at government branches saw their assets increase last year, a report showed Friday.

Nearly 72 percent of the country’s high-ranking officials and lawmakers reported that their assets rose in 2012 from the previous year. Under an anti-corruption law, 2,387 senior-level civil servants and members of the National Assembly were required to report their personal assets last year.

Of the 296 members of the Assembly, 212 reported that they were wealthier last year than the previous year. Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party topped the list with 1.92 trillion won ($1.72 billion), even though his asset value declined by 97.9 billion won from 2011. The son of late Chung Ju-young, founder of Hyundai Group, is the biggest shareholder of Hyundai Heavy Industries. 

Other members of the ruling party ― Ko Hee-sun, Kim Se-yeon and Park Duk-hyum ― were the next-richest lawmakers, each with assets worth more than 50 billion won. Excluding the four, the average amount of assets reported by all lawmakers was estimated at 1.86 billion won last year, down from 2.58 billion won in 2011, the ethics committee of the National Assembly said.

Despite sagging economic conditions and a slowing property market, asset values of lawmakers and officials have risen, mainly due to an increase in the estimated value of their stocks, shares and income savings. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, an index of all common stock traded on the stock market, jumped 9.4 percent in 2012 from the previous year. Appraised values of properties including apartments and houses also rose 4.5 percent on average nationwide, data showed.

“More lawmakers reported an asset increase this year mainly because their shares and property value rose last year. They also saw their deposits increasing because they had (the government’s) support for their election expenses,” an official of the ethics committee said.

High-level officials at the central government and municipalities reported an average of 1.17 billion won in personal assets last year, down from 1.3 billion won in 2011. Chin Tae-gu, governor of Taean County, South Chungcheong Province, was the wealthiest official with assets of 23 billion won, while Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was the poorest of the 1,933 high-ranking civil servants, reporting 6 million won in debts.

Choi Gyo-il, chief prosecutor at Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, saw the largest asset gain of 2 billion won last year among other civil servants. Choi reported 11.9 billion won in personal assets, up 2 billion won from 9.9 billion won in 2011.

The 158 senior-level judges had average assets of 2.19 billion won, with nearly two-thirds of them holding more than 1 billion won, the report said. Eight of the nine judges at the Constitutional Court had average assets of 1.6 billion won, the court’s ethics committee said.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)