[2020 National Audit] Consulate General in New York 'Squanders' Budget Meant for Intelligence Gathering on Year-End Party

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The Consulate General in New York was found to have used the budget intended for diplomatic purposes such as information gathering for year-end party expenses and sponsorships for Korean association events.

On the 14th, Tae Young-ho, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the People Power Party, revealed that the New York Consulate General used the 'Diplomatic Network Building Fund' for events with low diplomatic relevance, such as year-end party expenses and sponsorships for Korean association events.

According to the guidelines for the use of the Diplomatic Network Building Fund, the fund should be used for tasks with diplomatic purposes and external security, such as diplomatic information gathering. When executing the budget, a 'Statement of Execution Details and Result Analysis' including the purpose, date, location, attendees, and the affiliation and names of the subjects of execution must be submitted along with supporting documents.

However, the New York Consulate General spent the budget on events that are difficult to consider as having diplomatic purposes or external security, and omitted the result analysis documents. This was discovered during the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' regular inspection of overseas missions last year. Additionally, they violated regulations requiring competitive bidding by proceeding with a private contract for approximately 31.12 million KRW for eaves repair work at the official residence and about 41.25 million KRW for a consular office civil service security contract. Representative Tae criticized, "Some missions have revealed laxity in budget execution and management, such as inappropriate budget spending or violations of approval principles for expense disbursement."

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