'Foreign Service Official Mileage' Without Retirement Recovery Regulations... Equivalent to 445 Round Trips Between Incheon and New York

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its affiliates have covered 3,118 miles in the past three years... Ministry of Foreign Affairs senior officials are the most frequent
Assemblyman An Min-seok: "Need to establish recovery regulations or improve the system to encourage donations"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Concerns have been raised that the current system lacks regulations for reclaiming official airline mileage accumulated from overseas business trips upon retirement, highlighting the need for institutional improvements.

According to data titled ‘Accumulation and Reclamation Status of Airline Mileage in the Past 3 Years (2017?2019)’ submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its affiliated agencies to Rep. An Min-seok of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, the total mileage held by five institutions including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reached 283.53 million miles, with the Ministry alone holding 241 million miles.

Considering that a round-trip economy ticket on Korean Air from Incheon to New York requires 70,000 miles, the approximately 31.18 million miles held by 462 retirees over the past three years corresponds to about 445 round trips between Incheon and New York.

However, due to the absence of reclamation regulations, all retirees left without returning their mileage. The retiree who took the most mileage was a senior official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and among affiliated agencies, an executive from the Korea International Cooperation Agency held the largest amount.

The ‘Official Mileage System’ is designed to prioritize the use of airline mileage earned from official duties for purchasing tickets or seat upgrades during future business trips. However, since the mileage is accumulated under individual names and there are insufficient regulations for reclamation upon retirement, the system is reportedly not functioning properly. To address these issues, Gyeonggi Province has announced improvement plans such as the ‘Institutional Mileage System,’ which accumulates mileage under the institution’s name, and the ‘Mileage Donation System,’ which allows transfer or donation to vulnerable groups.

Rep. An Min-seok stated, “If a full survey of official mileage held by all civil servants and public institution retirees is conducted, it is likely that hundreds of millions to billions of won in budget are being wasted annually,” adding, “Official mileage owned at retirement should not become a second retirement bonus.” He urged, “The government and airlines should establish a system for accumulating mileage under government department names rather than individuals through business agreements, or introduce a public donation system, thereby preparing institutional improvement measures.”

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