The Anti-Corruption and Public Interest Commission Pays 30,597,000 KRW to 45 Whistleblowers on Corruption and Public Interest Cases

The woman wearing glasses on the right is Eunjeong Park, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. / Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Compensation totaling over 370 million KRW has been paid to 45 individuals who reported corruption and public interest violations, including falsely registering researchers to embezzle government-supported research and development funds.

On the 27th, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced that, following a plenary meeting on the 24th, it decided to pay compensation and rewards amounting to 375.97 million KRW to 45 whistleblowers. The amount recovered by public institutions due to their reports exceeded 1.78 billion KRW.

One whistleblower related to corruption received 108.19 million KRW after reporting a company that reclaimed research funds using false tax invoices and falsely registered researchers to embezzle government-supported R&D funds.

A person who reported the head of a medical corporation for fraudulent claims of excessive nursing care benefits received 36.45 million KRW.

Another individual who reported an agricultural cooperative corporation for fraudulently receiving agricultural subsidies by falsely preparing documents as if new equipment had been installed received 28.93 million KRW.

A whistleblower who reported a public institution executive for unfairly hiring specific individuals by recruiting interviewers with personal connections was awarded a reward of 5 million KRW.

One public interest whistleblower reported a company manufacturing red ginseng beverages using less red ginseng concentrate than advertised and received compensation of 18.13 million KRW.

Additionally, a person who reported companies involved in bid rigging and other unfair collusion in public institution contracts received 9.98 million KRW, and another who reported a wastewater treatment company for illegally discharging untreated wastewater into a river was awarded a reward of 5 million KRW.

Han Samseok, Director of the Review and Protection Bureau at the Anti-Corruption Commission, stated, "Corruption involving fraudulent claims for nursing care benefits, agricultural subsidies, and repeated public interest violations such as false labeling and advertising of food products continue to occur. We will actively provide compensation and rewards to encourage active reporting of corruption and public interest violations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.