Integrated Party Aims for Settlement Review... "Spent 5.4 Trillion Won on Job Stability Fund, Increased Employment by 0.036"

Members of the Future United Party's Budget and Accounts Committee, including Representative Choo Kyung-ho, are leaving the meeting room on the 28th in protest against the meeting procedure during the plenary session of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The United Future Party identified 100 problematic projects across five major sectors through the review of the 2019 fiscal year settlement. They plan to thoroughly scrutinize issues related to last year's supplementary budget (supplementary budget) projects, job-related projects, and inter-Korean exchange projects during the August National Assembly settlement review starting on the 18th.

On the 14th, Chu Kyung-ho, the designated whip of the United Future Party for the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee, stated, "We will demand institutional improvements focusing on the 100 problematic projects identified in the 2019 fiscal year settlement review."

Through the 2019 fiscal year settlement review, the United Future Party identified 100 problematic projects in five major areas: ▲supplementary budget projects ▲job-related projects ▲projects not complying with laws and regulations ▲illegal diversion and other projects infringing on the National Assembly's budget authority ▲inter-Korean exchange projects.

First, the United Future Party's analysis of the execution performance of 220 supplementary budget projects last year showed a low execution rate. Representative Chu pointed out, "In the case of the Ministry of Environment's air quality improvement promotion project, 681 billion KRW was reflected in the supplementary budget, but the unused amount was 226 billion KRW."

The construction machinery engine replacement project, which is 100% funded by the national treasury, executed only 34.6% of 103.95 billion KRW, and the replacement of residential low-NOx boilers executed only 6.9 billion KRW, which is 19.2% of 36 billion KRW. Representative Chu stated, "The settlement results prove how hastily last year's supplementary budget for fine dust measures was prepared."

Additionally, in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' support project for small business owners affected by the wildfires in Gangwon Province, 30.5 billion KRW was allocated for direct support, but the ministry arbitrarily applied similar regulations and illegally converted 59% of the budget, 18 billion KRW, into a loan format.

Problems with job projects were also pointed out. Representative Chu said, "Regarding the Job Stability Fund, despite sharply raising the minimum wage and spending a total of 5.4 trillion KRW of taxpayers' money over the past three years to help self-employed people, the labor research institute's service results showed that the job increase effect was only 0.036 persons per company," adding, "It is a representative example of wasteful use of public funds."

Furthermore, the Ministry of Employment and Labor's job-seeking allowance project budget doubled from 4 trillion KRW to 8 trillion KRW over five years, but the reemployment rate fell by 6.1 percentage points from 31.9% to 25.8%.

There were also many cases of non-compliance with laws, such as using budgets for purposes other than intended and promoting projects without legal grounds. Representative Chu pointed out, "In the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's support project for comfort women victims, in relation to the embezzlement incident involving the Justice and Peace Foundation and the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance, the National Treasury Subsidy Integrated Management Guidelines Article 17 require checking whether the victim support budget is used as originally intended and to grant subsidies accordingly," adding, "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has neglected this, consistently evading responsibility by failing to submit related materials, and we plan to request a special audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection under Article 127-2 of the National Assembly Act."

Also, some projects were illegally diverted without National Assembly approval. In the Ministry of Health and Welfare's project to establish a specialized severe trauma treatment system, when the recruitment rate fell to about 70% due to low wages for doctors and nurses at regional trauma centers, 800 million KRW of remaining personnel expenses were illegally used to hire 17 additional coordinators under a government job project.

Many cases of financial waste such as non-execution were found in inter-Korean exchange projects as well. In the Ministry of Unification's relief support and livelihood cooperation projects, 13.8 billion KRW was spent last year to support North Korea with rice through the UN World Food Programme, but the support was not delivered due to North Korea's refusal to receive it, and the budget was not recovered. Additionally, 17.1 billion KRW was spent on livelihood cooperation projects such as support for North Korean infants and medical aid, but four out of ten private organizations concealed their institution names without legal grounds, obstructing the National Assembly's settlement review.

Representative Chu said, "The United Future Party will verify the government's statements during last year's budget and supplementary budget deliberations in this settlement review, and if any distortion of facts is found, we will hold them strictly accountable to reestablish fiscal discipline as a foundational year," adding, "We will do our best to eliminate habitual illegal diversion and the nullification of the National Assembly's budget review and approval authority."

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