Assemblyman Yoon Young-deok: "110 Cases of Misuse Detected in Ministry of Education R&D Over the Past 5 Years"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] It has been revealed that the amount detected for misuse and embezzlement among the Ministry of Education R&D budget supported by the Research Foundation over the past five years amounts to 5 billion KRW.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Education to National Assembly member Yoon Youngdeok (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Dongnam Gap) on the 14th, there were 110 cases of fraud detected in the Ministry of Education's national research and development projects over the past five years (2016 to August 2020).

The amount subject to recovery was 4.929 billion KRW, and the penalty surcharge reached 139 million KRW.

The projects with the largest recovery amounts were ▲ Basic Science and Engineering Research Projects (2.16 billion KRW) ▲ Education Workforce Training Projects (2.12 billion KRW) ▲ Academic Humanities and Social Science Projects (650 million KRW), in that order. In terms of detection types, they were confirmed as ▲ Joint management of personnel expenses (72 cases) ▲ Improper execution of direct expenses (25 cases) ▲ Misappropriation, embezzlement, and fraud of research funds (13 cases).

The Korea Research Foundation's own detections accounted for 46 cases, representing only 41% of the total detected cases.

Assemblyman Yoon said, "Although the misuse of research funds is on a declining trend, the perception that research funds are 'free money' still remains. Especially, the most frequently detected 'joint management of personnel expenses' is difficult to catch without internal reporting, and since the Korea Research Foundation's detections account for only 41% of the total, measures should be prepared to ensure the effectiveness of the Foundation's audit system."

Meanwhile, the Korea Research Foundation's entrusted project budget from the Ministry of Education in 2020 was 2.9 trillion KRW and has been increasing every year.

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