They Promised Transparency in Donation Collection and Usage... But Only 'Partial Disclosure' Achieved

Enactment of the Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Solicitation and Use of Donations
'Mandatory Disclosure of Usage Details' → 'Effort to Comply Upon Request'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Amid heightened demands for donation transparency following controversies such as the mismanagement of sponsorship funds by the Justice Memory Solidarity, donors will now be able to request the disclosure of ledgers from fundraisers to see how their donations are used. However, the obligation for fundraisers to disclose these ledgers upon request has been omitted from the law.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Solicitation and Use of Donations, which enhances transparency in the solicitation and use of donations and strengthens donors' right to know, was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 30th.

The amendment requires fundraisers to post related information on their websites for at least 30 days?more than double the previous minimum of 14 days?after completing the solicitation of donations or using the solicited funds.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and metropolitan local governments, as donation solicitation registration authorities, will also disclose details of donation solicitation registration and usage approvals quarterly.

The amendment further allows donors to more actively verify where and how the organizations they donated to have used the funds. Until now, donors could only check the status of donation solicitation and usage details through materials disclosed by the fundraisers.

The materials that can be requested for disclosure include the donation solicitation statement, donation expenditure statement, donation goods solicitation statement, donation goods issuance statement, and donation solicitation cost expenditure ledger. When fundraisers disclose these ledgers upon a specific donor's request, only the donation details of that donor will be disclosed to protect the personal donation information of other donors.

However, even if a donor requests disclosure, fundraisers are not obligated to comply. The original draft of the amendment included a provision stating that "donors may request disclosure of the solicitation and use of their donations from the fundraiser who received them, and the fundraiser must provide the relevant information within seven days of the request." But the amendment approved at the Cabinet meeting states only that "donors may request disclosure of ledgers related to donation solicitation and use from fundraisers, and fundraisers shall endeavor to comply with such requests."

Since this is not a mandatory requirement, critics argue that it represents a significant step back from the intent to strengthen donors' right to know and enhance transparency.

However, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said, "This amendment is significant as it is the first to stipulate the 'donor's right to know.' We plan to consult with related ministries to gradually establish an integrated donation management system to further improve donation transparency, identify additional institutional improvement tasks, and, if necessary, pursue legal amendments."

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