Representative Chang Yoon-seok of the Saenuri Party, who chairs the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, was one of the nine. The rest were Saenuri representatives Kim Hack-yong, Kim Jae-gyeong, Kweon Seong-dong and Kim Sung-tae and DUP representatives Choi Jae-sung, Hong Young-pyo, Ahn Gyu-back and Min Hong-chul.
The lawmakers left for Africa and Latin America on research trips funded by the National Assembly. The purpose is to study the budget appropriations systems of African and Latin American countries.
The budget was approved at a plenary session of the National Assembly around 6:04 a.m. Tuesday. Later in the day, a five-man group including Special Committee Chairman Chang departed for an 11-day trip to Latin America.
The second group of four, all members of the Subcommittee on Numbers Adjustment, left Wednesday afternoon. After a stopover in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, they were to visit Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Their trips were paid for using the budget earmarked for the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts. About 150 million won ($141,376) was spent on the nine lawmakers’ airfares, lodging and other travel expenses.
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