One Hundred Account Problems of 2004

”There were over 100 problems in government expenditure in 2004.”

While the National Assembly is reviewing and closing accounts, on August 22 the Grand National Party analyzed the problems in the bills of expenditure of each ministry in 2004 and released the “100 Account Problems.”

The opposition party’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts stated, “From our careful analysis of the government budget, we have found that, on many accounts, our taxpayers’ money have been utilized at the government’s convenience or have been wasted.”

“Is the National Assembly buying household goods for marriage?”-

The report, which is based on information from organizations including the National Assembly and government ministries, specifically pointed out, among others, the following problems:

Imprudent execution of budget at year end; execution of budget in advance; starting new projects without the National Assembly’s consent; and group orders for research services at year end. According to the report, the Ministry of Finance and Trade executed 9.6 billion won of the 66 billion won allotted for Iraq’s reconstruction project before the president’s approval was given. Thirty vehicles, computers, and medical supplies provided to the Kirkuk government were sent two to three months before approval was obtained.

The Government Information Agency used 1.5 billion won of the advertising fee for the construction of the new administrative capital 20 days before the budget was allotted.

For National Assembly speaker’s trip in March to the U.S. (4.2 million won) and Japan, (2.94 million won) the National Assembly Secretariat recorded special activity costs for last December, which means they used the 2004 budget for 2005 projects.

Also, for the two weeks from December 14 to 31, the National Assembly Secretariat spent 470 million won on computers, refrigerators, DVDs, and office supplies.

Regarding this information, the Grand National Party responded, “Is the National Assembly buying household goods for marriage?”

Also, the Ministry of Finance and Economy and Ministry of Construction and Transportation signed nine research contracts amounting to 140 million won and 414 million won respectively, at the end of the year.

It was discovered that the Presidential Secretariat recorded special activity costs for employee bonuses, and it is unclear how the 54 million won that the Office of the Prime Minister received for operating fees over two days at the end of the year was used.

“Special Audit Will be Requested” –

The Grand National Party stated that such fee expenditures break the budget accounting laws and treasury management laws. The fact that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade hired 49 more people and used an additional 2.6 billion won also goes against the government organization laws.

The Grand National Party’s Chairman of Policy Committee, Maeng Hyung-kyu stated, “We will request the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea for a special audit into the wrongful expenditure of the government budget and require reimbursement, redemption, and disciplinary actions for the people responsible.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade explained, “We are in the midst of calculating the exact amount of advanced fees regarding the Iraqi reconstruction. As for the excess number of employees, we did not have enough people thus it was inevitable.”

The National Assembly Secretariat explained, “The recording of our expense is due to the fact that in last December, the National Assembly session was postponed because of the national security law problems, so our schedules for diplomatic activities had to be adjusted.”

The Ministry of Finance and Economy said, “We can transfer the budget for research services to next year.”

Jung-Eun Lee Dong-Yong Min lightee@donga.com mindy@donga.com