"I'll Get You the Subsidy"... Incheon City Official 'Swallows' 30 Million Won Worth of Seafood

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] A public official was caught pocketing seafood worth about 30 million won from fishermen under the pretext of marine and fisheries subsidies.

On the 12th, the Korea Coast Guard announced that it had referred Mr. A (Grade 5), a public official in Incheon, to the prosecution without detention on charges of bribery and other offenses. Additionally, 23 people, including fishermen who gave bribes to Mr. A and employees of the Fisheries Cooperative, were also referred without detention on charges of bribery.

Mr. A is suspected of receiving seafood worth 30 million won, such as blue crabs and skate, from fishermen in Ongjin-gun, Incheon, and Fisheries Cooperative officials from 2017 until October last year, under the pretense of "providing subsidies."

It was revealed that Mr. A sent the seafood he received from fishermen to a sashimi restaurant he was familiar with, converting it into cash or using it as company dinner expenses.

Mr. A reportedly pressured the officials in charge to ensure that fishermen who gave bribes could receive subsidy benefits and helped cover up enforcement actions so that fishing vessels caught by the fisheries patrol ship would not be punished.

Furthermore, during the process of receiving seafood, Mr. A abused his power by ordering subordinate officials to run errands unrelated to their duties. When one of these employees was promoted after receiving a high work evaluation score from Mr. A, he ordered seafood worth about 1 million won and made the employee pay for it.

A Korea Coast Guard official stated, "Mr. A preferred to receive seafood rather than cash depending on the temperament of fishermen working on the islands," and added, "We will continue to strictly crack down on the five major social evils at sea, including fraudulent receipt of national subsidies, acts that threaten public safety, various corrupt practices, and abuse of power."

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