Evidence of Minhwahyeop Executives Transferring Tens of Millions of Won in Subsidies for North Korea Support Projects to the North Korean Side

An executive affiliated with the National Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (Minhwahyeop) has been caught on suspicion of delivering tens of millions of won in subsidies from the salt support project for North Korea to North Korean officials, prompting the police to conduct an investigation.

On the 18th, the Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that they are investigating Um Mo, the head of the External Cooperation Team who oversaw Minhwahyeop’s 2019 salt support project for North Korea, after confirming that he delivered a total of 200,000 yuan (approximately 37 million won) to officials at the North Korean Embassy in China. The police believe Um delivered the subsidies with the intention of securing convenience for North Korea-related projects such as the salt support initiative. Um was arrested on the 12th on charges including violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, embezzlement in the course of duty, and violation of the Subsidy Act.

Minhwahyeop, a North Korea support organization, received a subsidy of 500 million won from Jeollanam-do in 2019 and commissioned a private company to carry out a project to supply salt to North Korea. Um joined Minhwahyeop while working as a representative of the private company involved in the project. The project was reportedly effectively halted early on because it did not receive government approval for the export of goods. However, the whereabouts of the salt recorded as purchased remain unclear, and although Minhwahyeop conducted an internal investigation last October, they were unable to determine its location.

The police initiated the investigation based on their own intelligence and have registered the executives of the commissioned company, Um, and Minhwahyeop as suspects. The police estimate that the amount embezzled, which was not used for salt purchases, is approximately 475 million won.

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