Major Audit of National Subsidies in Welfare Sector... "Strict Action Against Illegal Findings"

Ministry of Health and Welfare Forms Task Force to Strengthen Management of National Subsidies
Operates Intensive Reporting Period for Fraudulent Claims Until March

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The Ministry of Health and Welfare is launching a large-scale audit of national subsidies in the welfare sector. This is a follow-up measure to President Yoon Seok-yeol's earlier declaration of his intention to strengthen the management of national subsidies.

Lee Gi-il, the First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, who has been appointed as the head of the Task Force for Strengthening the Management of National Treasury Subsidies in the Welfare Sector, is presiding over a video conference on the 17th.
[Photo by Ministry of Health and Welfare]

On the 17th, the Ministry announced that it has formed the "Task Force for Strengthening the Management of National Subsidies in the Welfare Sector," led by First Vice Minister Lee Ki-il, with participation from audit and finance-related departments.

The task force plans to conduct audits on a total of 75 projects: 34 projects directly supported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare over the past three years (114.2 billion KRW), 20 projects supported through local governments (930.1 billion KRW), and 21 projects supported through affiliated public institutions (367.4 billion KRW). It will also prepare measures to improve the subsidy management system.

On the same day, the task force held a video conference chaired by Vice Minister Lee with subsidy project directors within the Ministry and welfare directors from 17 metropolitan and provincial governments to discuss audits of subsidies to non-profit private organizations. Vice Minister Lee requested cooperation from each city and province during the subsidy audit process.

The Ministry plans to conduct the first audit by the end of next month. Projects deemed problematic will undergo in-depth audits by a private advisory group centered on accounting experts by the end of March. If illegal activities are discovered, measures such as subsidy recovery, investigation requests, and prosecution will be taken. Additionally, a plan to reorganize the management system of subsidies under the Ministry of Health and Welfare will be prepared by April.

In line with this, a "Focused Reporting Period for Fraudulent Subsidy Claims" will be operated until the end of March. Reports can be made via the Internet Welfare Road Fraud Reporting Center, phone, or fax.

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