Military Wants Outside Asset Audit Aid

The Ministry of National Defense is planning the first-ever comprehensive audit of the Military Mutual Aid Association, and affiliated organization, according to a military official yesterday. The audit will be conducted in conjunction with a private accounting firm and outside experts.

The ministry is considering completely handing over the audit of the association to private accounting firms or professional accountants.

This reflects the ministry’s conclusion that its own auditing office’s manpower and organization will not be able to handle the work of auditing the association’s vast accounting records.

The Military Mutual Aid Association currently manages assets worth 5.4 trillion won, including active investments in finance, construction and real estate, and is regarded as a powerful player in the domestic corporate merger market. It recently announced a bid to acquire Daewoo Construction and is actively entering the resource development and IT fields both at home and abroad.

One military official said that in order to closely examine the adequacy of the Military Mutual Aid Association’s past investments and accounting transparency, professional auditing help is needed.

He added that the comprehensive audit will cover the overall management of the association for the past few years, including manpower management, fund investment, and risk management. Management improvement measures will be suggested based on the results.

Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com