Autumn's Raised 'Special Activity Funds' Sparks Controversy at Cheong Wa Dae... Noh Young-min Says "Non-disclosure According to Law"

No Young-min, Chief Secretary to the Blue House, is reviewing documents before responding to lawmakers' questions at the National Assembly's Steering Committee meeting held on the 4th for the Blue House's audit./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The controversy over special activity funds (special activity expenses) raised by Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae regarding Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol has extended to the Blue House. While the opposition party is preparing to "verify the Blue House's special activity funds at the National Assembly's Steering Committee," Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min responded, "They are kept confidential according to the law."

On the 13th, during the National Assembly Steering Committee meeting, Chief of Staff Noh replied to People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Hee-yong, saying, "The disclosure status is related to matters concerning national security, defense, unification, and diplomatic relations, and is currently kept confidential under the Information Disclosure Act."

That day, the National Assembly Steering Committee held a plenary session to review next year's budget proposals under the Blue House's jurisdiction, including the Presidential Secretariat and the National Security Office. Lawmaker Jeong questioned, "The Blue House has allocated 18.2 billion won for special activity funds next year, which is the third largest amount after the Ministry of National Defense and the National Police Agency," and asked whether the special activity funds could be disclosed.

On the same day, the opposition party vowed to verify the Blue House's special activity funds in connection with the controversy raised by Minister Choo. Kim Seong-won, the senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, stated at the party's floor strategy meeting, "We will verify the Blue House's special activity funds at the National Assembly Steering Committee," adding, "We will scrutinize to ensure that not a single won of the people's taxes is wasted." He criticized, "Looking at next year's (Blue House) budget proposal is astonishing," pointing out that "the special activity funds, whose usage is unknown, as well as legal advisory costs and tens of billions of won allocated for Blue House visitors and souvenirs, are included in large amounts."

Chief of Staff Noh explained, "The 18.2 billion won in Blue House special activity funds is the combined amount for the Secretariat and the Security Office," adding, "Records of special activity funds will later be transferred to the Presidential Archives and can be accessed after the legally prescribed period." He stated, "Not only the Moon Jae-in administration but also previous administrations used special activity funds for maintaining confidentiality, and other governments did not disclose them either." Responding to related questions from Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Jeong-min, Chief of Staff Noh emphasized, "According to the law, special activity funds have not been fully disclosed," and since they are made public after a certain period, the Blue House's special activity funds are used transparently.

Lawmaker Hong asked again, "During former President Park Geun-hye's tenure, the Blue House's special activity funds exceeded 20 billion won, but wasn't it said that they were used for diplomatic and security purposes?" To this, Chief of Staff Noh replied, "Yes. They are used in areas of defense, unification, and diplomatic relations," adding, "Once transferred to the Presidential Archives, anyone can transparently access them after the protection period has passed."

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