2.05698 Billion Won Forest Subsidy 'Poor Execution'... 7 Cases Referred for Investigation

7 Disciplinary Actions and 27 Reprimands for Related Parties... 775 Cases of Institutional Caution and Corrective Measures

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Kwang-ho] It has been revealed that tens of billions of won in forest subsidies were poorly executed. The methods included fraudulent claims, submission of false estimates, and embezzlement of labor costs.

The Government Joint Anti-Corruption Promotion Team of the Office for Government Policy Coordination announced on the 23rd the results of a four-month joint inspection (September to December 2019) of the Korea Forest Service and forest subsidy operations.

The Anti-Corruption Promotion Team examined the appropriateness of project selection, execution, settlement, and post-management for 2,600 project sites across 29 local governments nationwide that received over 10 billion won in subsidies for forest projects.

During this inspection, a total of 743 violations (with 2,056,980,000 won recovered) were detected, including misuse of subsidies, fraudulent labor cost claims, and improper settlement of safety management expenses. Among these, 7 cases (38 individuals, 771,180,000 won) suspected of corruption such as fraudulent claims, submission of false estimates, and embezzlement of labor costs were referred for investigation.

Major detected cases included 677 violations (1,081,160,000 won) in forest development projects, such as lack of objectivity and fairness in forest road feasibility evaluations, double counting and non-construction of project costs, and misuse of safety management expenses.

In forest income enhancement projects, 66 improper cases (975,820,000 won) were identified, including unfair selection of subsidized operators, settlement with false supporting documents, fraudulent labor cost claims, misuse of subsidies, and inadequate post-management.

Regarding the detected local governments and operators, related personnel were punished (7 disciplinary actions, 27 warnings), and institutional warnings and corrective measures (775 cases) were implemented. Subsidies amounting to 2,056,980,000 won used for other purposes will be recovered.

The Anti-Corruption Promotion Team plans to propose measures to improve project efficiency as part of proactive administration. Projects that remain unexecuted due to lack of economic feasibility or appropriateness will be replaced with alternative projects suited to regional characteristics (such as experience villages and theme parks). For safety management at forest project sites, disaster safety facilities (such as erosion control facilities and retention ponds) will be reinforced, and efficiency improvement plans will be pursued for two projects worth approximately 11 billion won.

Additionally, to ensure that forest sector subsidy projects are executed in line with their intended purpose, institutional improvements and strengthened post-management will be carried out for 20 related tasks, including ▲ enhancing transparency in selection and construction management of forest development projects ▲ strengthening safety management at forest project sites ▲ tightening selection criteria and settlement review for forest income enhancement projects ▲ improving wildfire prevention management systems in forest disaster-prone areas.

A government official stated, "We will continue to monitor and manage the implementation of improvement measures quarterly and thoroughly supervise to ensure that subsidies in the forest project sector are executed more efficiently."

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