10 Million Spent on Government Credit Card?

Senior government officials spend an average of 10 million won (or, approximately $8,500) on the government credit card for what South Koreans have dubbed "official promotional expenditure," confirmed Yoo In-tae yesterday, the Presidential Political Affairs Senior Secretary (or, equivalent to the presidential aide in US). Hearing the announcement, South Koreans and civil watchdogs could not conceal their surprise. They are now demanding the government should disclose where the tax money has been used. On the other hands, officials are defining the announcement as an irresponsible, groundless act.

▽ Citizens` reaction = A citizen, who only revealed his last name Park, stressed, "Government officials have grumbled that their salaries are too low. But they spent tons of money for the alleged official purposes. That`s our tax money. We are entitled to know where the money was spent."

Lee Jae-myung, a senior member of the People`s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, criticized, "We are behind Secretary Yoo. It has to be verified where the tax money has been used for what purposes." He also argued, "We want to know the details, not just the lump sum figures used. We also need a specific documentation for the expenses spent by them."

Citizens` Coalition for Economic Justice senior official Kim Yong-chul pointed out that "the official promotional expenditure has been the target of criticism from various quarters. Yoo might be wrong in terms of the amount and other details. But what he intended was to correct the wrong practice. In this respect, he is legitimate and persuasive."

Another citizens` watchdog member, Choi Byung-il opined differently. He said, "It is basically right to point out the wrong practice to prevent tax money from being wasted away. But, Yoo quoted wrong numbers and put the government workers in hot water. It is not good for the reform drive pursued by the Roh administration."

▽ Resistance from officials = Yoo`s announcement dominated the topics of the officials. Once reporting to work, they got together and talked about it. Most of the officials got angry and accused Yoo. They said, "Yoo didn`t check the basic facts about the expenditure. He just depicted all of us as stealing tax money."

A senior official, insisting on anonymity, lashed out at the announcement, He said, "Reading the announcement in the paper, I got upset. What would my family members and friends think of me?"

Another anonymous official snapped and was quoted as saying, "If only I could have spent only half of the money quoted by Secretary Yoo! Yoo should`ve revealed the source of information from which he got the information!"

Yet another senior government worker cynically remarked, "The Blue House officially directed us to actively engage in correction of wrongful reports. Then, don`t we have to collectively ask the Blue House to correct the wrong announcement?"

A Ministry of Education senior member stated, "Yoo`s statement may be true in some cases. But it is undesirable to make a generalization for all government workers, isn`t it?"

Yoo also stated that the board in charge of the fund does not make any minutes. But officials reputed the statement. They argue, "Every government board and committee leaves minutes."

▽ Who`s telling the truth? = In fact, the budget does not earmark any fund for the official promotional purposes. But every agency has some fund, which is not assigned any purpose and is called the general task expenditure, and uses it to perk up the spirits of the personnel.

The Ministry of Planning and Budget appropriates the general task expenditure for each agency and bureau. But the exact amount differs from department to department, and unit to unit. Generally, each bureau spends 500,000 to 2 million won out of the fund every month.

In addition, other "non-senior" officials also use the fund only for official purposes. Thus, they are required to use the credit card and submit the receipt.

Therefore, except for a handful of officials handling international business projects or treating VIPs, most senior members can use up to two million won a month.

Hyun-Doo Lee Hyo-Lim Son ruchi@donga.com aryssong@donga.com