Gyeonggi-do Extends Joint Investigation of Nanum House Until the 22nd

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has decided to extend the public-private joint on-site investigation into the support facility for former Japanese military comfort women victims, "Nanum-ui Jip" (Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi), which is embroiled in controversy over the "use of sponsorship funds," until the 22nd.

This decision was made because, in addition to the legal violations revealed during the special inspection conducted by the province and Gwangju-si in May, several other issues were discovered during the on-site investigation that began on the 6th, requiring more time to verify the facts and prepare countermeasures.

Through the investigation so far, the investigation team has additionally uncovered ▲unfair treatment of the comfort women victims ▲inappropriate use of sponsorship funds ▲negligence in managing historically valuable records.

The province plans to promptly conclude the investigation and disclose the results to facilitate the early normalization of Nanum-ui Jip.

Currently, five former Japanese military comfort women victims reside at Nanum-ui Jip.

Kim Dae-wol, head of the academic affairs office, and six other staff members filed complaints through the National Petition System and other channels from March to June, alleging that the management of Nanum-ui Jip did not use the sponsorship funds for the grandmothers but instead accumulated them in cash and real estate to be used for elderly care projects. They also filed a police report against the former facility director, the former secretary-general, and four monk directors.

In May, from the 13th to the 15th, the province conducted a special inspection of the corporation "Daehan Buddhist Jogye Order Nanum-ui Jip," which operates Nanum-ui Jip, uncovering numerous inappropriate cases in sponsorship fund management and operations, resulting in administrative sanctions such as fines and referral to the police for investigation.

The special inspection confirmed illegal cases such as paying a salary of 53 million KRW from sponsorship funds to a history museum employee under the corporation who had no attendance records, spending 7.356 million KRW in health insurance premiums that the CEO was supposed to pay from sponsorship funds, and storing 12 million KRW in sponsorship funds, including foreign currency, in the former secretary-general’s drawer.

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