[AlphaBiz = Reporters Kim Ji-hyun, Lee Jun-hyun and Moon Sun-jung] It has been revealed that the government’s large-scale comprehensive audit of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NongHyup) was nothing more than a “public shaming-style audit” driven by a focus on performance.

According to reporting compiled by AlphaBiz on March 11, the 490 million won worth of gifts allegedly given as election rewards included in the results of the government’s joint special audit of NongHyup were confirmed to be “electric pruning shears for farmer safety” owned by the NongHyup Foundation.

Electric pruning shears are tools used by elderly farmers for pruning work, such as trimming branches or clearing brush. The NongHyup Foundation had reportedly purchased the shears in bulk and distributed them where needed as part of farmer support programs.

Despite being aware of this background, the government’s special audit team reportedly classified the items as “gifts given in return for election support” simply because senior NongHyup officials had requested that some of the shears remaining in certain local cooperatives be redistributed.

To emphasize the claim that they were election-related gifts, the audit team reportedly calculated the value by multiplying the number of shears being distributed and stored by their purchase price (about 40,000–50,000 won each) and presented them as election reward gifts worth nearly 500 million won.

The audit team also reportedly raised issues about hundreds of millions of won in advertising spending placed with a daily newspaper in Gyeonggi Province.

Although the advertising sponsorships were executed through multiple transactions, they were reportedly presented as if they were a single large payment reflecting collusive and loose management within NongHyup.

In addition, the audit team once again highlighted issues such as the “10-don gold key” that had been pointed out in the first audit by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, emphasizing what it described as serious problems in NongHyup governance.

Han Chi-ho, a Ph.D. in public administration and economic commentator, said, “If the administrative branch pushed ahead with an excessive announcement resembling an empty showpiece audit in order to demonstrate results after criticism from President Lee Jae-myung, then it amounts to an embarrassment-driven administration rather than a genuine effort to improve NongHyup governance.”

He added, “Looking at the case where electric pruning shears intended for farmer support were turned into election reward gifts, public officials should refrain from the kind of performance-driven behavior aimed at pleasing the administration.”

The joint special audit was conducted with participation from officials of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, the Board of Audit and Inspection, as well as staff from public institutions and external experts.

The special audit was a follow-up measure to a prior audit conducted by the agriculture ministry between November and December last year. It began on Jan. 26, targeting the NongHyup headquarters, subsidiaries and member cooperatives, and the results were broadly announced on March 9.

 

 

 

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