Assemblyman Shin Jeong-hoon: "R&D Research Fund Misuse Amounts to 25.4 Billion Won"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] It has been revealed that research funds at three research institutes under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy are being leaked due to fraudulent use.

Assemblyman Shin Jeong-hoon pointed out the need for stronger measures to eradicate moral hazard.

On the 13th, Assemblyman Shin Jeong-hoon (Jeonnam Naju·Hwasun, Industry, Trade, and Small and Medium Venture Business Committee) analyzed the status of detection and recovery of fraudulent and misused research funds by each research institute, submitted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and found that the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) had the highest number of detections.

From 2015 to June this year, KIAT recorded 120 cases of fraudulent or misused research funds, with an amount of 12.159 billion KRW, the highest among the three institutions.

By type, there were 60 cases of misuse for purposes other than intended (5.966 billion KRW), 27 cases of misuse of personnel expenses (1.319 billion KRW), 23 cases of false or duplicate evidence (3.195 billion KRW), and 10 cases of collusion with supplying companies (1.68 billion KRW). The uncollected rate compared to the recovery decision amount was a staggering 43.5%.

Due to legal actions such as bankruptcy and closure, forced collection was practically difficult, and the amount of uncollected funds with temporarily suspended legal actions reached 5.385 billion KRW.

During the same period, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Promotion (KIITP) had 46 detected cases, with fraudulent use amounting to 7.757 billion KRW.

There were 17 cases of misuse of personnel expenses (1.224 billion KRW), 15 cases of false or duplicate evidence (4.407 billion KRW), and 14 cases of misuse for purposes other than intended (2.125 billion KRW), with an uncollected rate of 27.1%.

The amount of uncollected funds with temporarily suspended legal actions was 494 million KRW.

Furthermore, the Korea Energy Technology Evaluation Institute (KETEP) recorded 63 detected cases, with fraudulent use amounting to 5.51 billion KRW.

By type, there were 35 cases of misuse for purposes other than intended (2.789 billion KRW), 24 cases of misuse of personnel expenses (1.965 billion KRW), and 4 cases of collusion with supplying companies (748 million KRW). The uncollected rate was 38.3%, and the amount of uncollected funds with temporarily suspended legal actions was 1.08 billion KRW.

Assemblyman Shin Jeong-hoon stated, “R&D projects related to fostering new industries leading the rapidly changing industrial structure and extraordinary responses to industrial crises are directly linked to national competitiveness. Research funds should naturally be used strategically and efficiently as a catalyst for innovation to achieve maximum results, but due to fraudulent and misused research funds, government R&D budgets are being wasted.”

He continued, “A system for continuous monitoring of project fund execution should be established to thoroughly monitor the use of research funds, and immediate on-site investigations should be conducted if fraudulent use is suspected. Additionally, the proportion of special on-site investigations for suspicious projects should be gradually expanded.” He proposed alternatives, saying, “Instead of a ‘10-year ban’ for fraudulent use of research funds, a ‘permanent ban’ should be introduced to permanently exclude researchers who repeatedly commit fraud and violate research ethics from national research and development projects.”

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