Asian Parliamentary Openness Index 2026
Assessment date: October 2026
South Korea
- Government system: Presidential system with some parliamentary elements
- Parliamentary type: Unicameral
- Parliament name: National Assembly (of the Republic of Korea)
- Parliament official website: https://www.assembly.go.kr/
South Korea’s National Assembly discloses parliamentary information extensively and promptly. Bills, transcripts, video, voting records and budget documents are published through dedicated systems, most within days of the proceeding. Much of it is also available through an open API. The principal limitation is predictability. The calendar for each session is announced, but the dates of sittings and the items taken up at them are settled through negotiation between the parliamentary groups, and confirmed only the day before or on the day, so citizens cannot know in advance when an issue they follow will be heard. Participation is affected too: hearings required for enactment and full amendment bills are announced only as an item within a committee’s own calendar, and are hard to find. No accessibility standard is identified for its premises. Some of the most consequential information is unrecorded or not reusable. Budget increases and reductions are traceable in the final documents, but the decisive adjustments are made in an informal body that keeps no minutes, and what members actually spend from their office allowances is not disclosed. Interest and asset declarations are released only as PDFs.
Date assessment was sent to Parliament: 12 October 2026
Lower chamber
90.81%
(30.87/34)
- Openness on Information
- 91.15% (21.87/24)
- Openness on Accountability
- 100.00% (3/3)
- Openness on Citizen Participation
- 85.71% (6/7)
How a parliament proactively discloses comprehensive legislative, financial, administrative, and procedural data in accessible formats.
22 indicators
Partly achieved (3 indicators)
The indicator receives some score, excluding those that are not applicable to the country context.
0.50/1.00
0.50/1.00
1.88/3.00
Achieved (19 indicators)
All questions within the indicator receive a full score, excluding those that are not applicable to the country context.
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
1.00/1.00
About the respondent
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The Center for Freedom of Information and Transparent Society (CFOI)
The Center for Freedom of Information and Transparent Society (CFOI) is a civil society organization based in South Korea, working to advance the public's right to know and promote government transparency and accountability. We advocate for legislative reform of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), campaign for more democratic and transparent decision-making, and disclose information through data projects. Through our OpenWatch project, CFOI leads citizen-driven monitoring of South Korea's National Assembly and all 243 local assemblies, collecting and publicly releasing data on elected officials' backgrounds, political funding, and conflict-of-interest disclosures.
Year the organization began monitoring Parliament
2008
Name of respondent
- JOEUN KIM
Email of respondent to correspond with
joeun@opengirok.or.kr
Conduct deeper analysis
Machine-readable data for all countries in this cycle is available for download.
For academic use, please contact Professor Akihiro Ogawa (Email: akihiro.ogawa@unimelb.edu.au )
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