NACF Gave Free Weekend Farm to Officials

It was revealed that this March, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) distributed a weekend farm for free to 930 officials working in some 40 government departments and organizations, such as the prime minister’s secretariat and the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development.

The NACF distributed a three-to-five pyeong (one pyeong=3.3meters) weekend farm to 930 officials recommended by government departments and the Secretariat of the National Assembly as part of its “Weekend Farm Free Distribution” event.

For the special favors given to the public officials in 41 public institutes, the NACF spent 65.72 million won. The price for a weekend farm in the suburbs of Seoul is around 100,000 won (for a three-to-five pyeong farm).

The NACF also distributed the weekend farm to 5,108 valued customers nationwide with high merit in the name of managing distinguished customers. Its free distribution to the public officials is disputed for giving special favors to them through a recommendation from government organizations.

The NACF’s standards for the free distribution are: the main customers of strategic branches, customers with high merit, executives and employees in public institutes using the NACF safe, and customers recommended by branch chiefs. Since 2003, it has distributed the weekend farm for free according to these standards.

The NACF branch in the Central Government Complex sent an official letter to 16 government departments and organizations within the complex, including the prime minister’s secretariat, and distributed the free weekend farm to 278 officials recommended. A total of 402 officials in the Gwacheon Government Complex and 137 in the Daejeon Government Complex also received the special favors.

Classifying the distribution by the organization, the weekend farm was distributed to 113 officials in the Secretariat of the National Assembly, the largest portion, 55 in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 40 in the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, 33 in the Ministry of Environment, and 22 in the Small and Medium Business Administration.

A high-profile government official said, “It is clearly a special favor to distribute the weekend farm for free to public officials. They had to send a notice and receive an application from individuals if it were part of their management of distinguished customers.”

The NACF responded they decided to send the official letter to government departments and organizations, not to individuals, on concerns about the expected resistance of the excluded customers to the selective distribution to distinguished customers.

Chin-Ku Lee sys1201@donga.com