Seoul City Cancels Registration of 'Chotbul Junggosaeng Citizen Coalition'... Recovers Support Funds

"'Violation of the Nonprofit Private Organization Support Act'
'Confirmed payment of instructor fees to the representative, etc.'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Seoul City announced on the 27th that it has decided to impose an 'administrative disposition to cancel registration' on the 'Chotbul Junggosaeng Citizen Solidarity' in accordance with Article 2, Clause 3 and Article 4-2 of the 'Act on Support for Nonprofit Private Organizations.' The Seoul City Audit Committee explained, "The direct cause of the cancellation of the organization's registration was that it was operated primarily for the purpose of supporting or opposing a specific political party or elected candidate."

Since registering as a nonprofit private organization, the group supported and endorsed elected candidates (Seoul City and Gangwon Province Superintendents of Education) through policy agreements and policy meetings during the 8th simultaneous nationwide local elections as of December, and also engaged in activities opposing specific candidates and political parties.

Additionally, Seoul City revealed that improper expenditure was found in the 16 million KRW subsidy provided to 'Chotbul Junggosaeng Citizen Solidarity' this year under the 'Nonprofit Private Organization Public Interest Activity Support Project,' and plans to recover the entire amount.

Chotbul Junggosaeng Citizen Solidarity was selected for the '2022 Seoul City Nonprofit Private Organization Public Interest Activity Support Project' with the 'Public Interest Project to Solve Youth Issues in the COVID-19 Era' and received a city subsidy of 16 million KRW to carry out the project from April to November.

Upon completion of the project, Seoul City conducted a final evaluation of the performance report and settlement documents submitted by the organization and confirmed improper expenditures across the subsidy usage, including instructor fees, promotional expenses, and purchase of goods. The organization paid instructor fees to the representative three times and failed to submit supporting documents to verify promotional expenses for recruiting 600 public interest reporters and the purchase of goods provided to the reporters.

Seoul City requested submission of evidence and explanations twice, but the organization did not comply and has not cooperated with the proper project evaluation and settlement. Accordingly, Seoul City decided to recover the entire amount of the city subsidy and plans to notify the organization as of this date.

The Seoul City Audit Committee stated, "We will continue to develop various support measures for nonprofit private organizations and conduct additional audits on organizations that violate registration conditions and illegal or improper subsidy expenditures to ensure ongoing correction."

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