Ministry of Unification Conducts Office Inspections of 25 Corporations... Half Are Organizations Related to North Korean Defectors

On the night of June 22, a balloon carrying leaflets sent by a North Korean defector organization from Paju, Gyeonggi Province, fell on a hillside near Magok-ri, Seomyeon, Hongcheon-gun on the 23rd, and the police are collecting it. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seung-jin] The Ministry of Unification announced on the 16th that it plans to conduct administrative inspections on its affiliated non-profit registered corporations starting at the end of this month, triggered by the issue of leaflet distribution toward North Korea.

This measure by the Ministry of Unification was implemented in response to the recent leaflet distribution activities by defector organizations such as the Free North Korea Movement Alliance and Keunsam. However, a Ministry of Unification official explained that although the recent leaflet distribution issue served as an opportunity to conduct administrative inspections on registered corporations, the inspections are not solely focused on the leaflet distribution issue.

The first round of administrative inspections will target 25 registered corporations, of which more than half, 13, have defectors as their corporate representatives. The Ministry explained that the first targets were selected from among 95 registered corporations in the fields of North Korean human rights and settlement support that either failed to submit their annual operational performance reports, submitted insufficient reports, or require additional fact verification.

The Ministry of Unification plans to focus the administrative inspections primarily on the North Korean human rights and settlement support sectors but intends to expand inspections to other sectors in the future. The inspections will be conducted based on cooperation without compulsory investigative authority. They will examine project execution details and operational and management issues, and if necessary, verify whether the purposes stated in the articles of incorporation align with the actual business activities.

According to Article 8 of the "Regulations on the Establishment and Supervision of Non-Profit Corporations under the Jurisdiction of the Ministry of Unification," the Minister of Unification may require corporations to submit related documents and ledgers if deemed necessary for administrative inspection and supervision under Article 37 of the Civil Act. The Minister may also assign affiliated public officials to inspect the corporation’s affairs and property status.

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