Won Hee-ryong: "Construction Union Embezzlement of Union Fees... The Tip of the Iceberg"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, emphasized the need to ensure transparency in union accounting, stating that "the embezzlement case involving several hundred million won of union funds by the former chairman of the Construction Industry Union is just the tip of the iceberg."

On the 23rd, Minister Won explained on Facebook, "It is a structure where neither the public nor even the union members can know how much money, including hundreds of millions of won in union dues, flows into the union leadership at construction sites, where it comes from, and how it is used."

Previously, Jin Byung-jun, former chairman of the National Construction Industry Labor Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, was prosecuted on charges of embezzling 1 billion won in union funds and was sentenced to four years in prison in the first trial.

Minister Won stated, "The union has already become a sanctuary and has never properly undergone an external audit," adding, "Union corruption is not simply a problem of the union itself but a nationwide issue that ultimately burdens the public, as it is passed on through construction costs and sale prices." He continued, "Normalizing the union through securing accounting transparency is the path we must take for the people."

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