[2023 National Audit] "Bank of Korea Hong Kong Resident Officer's Monthly Rent Around 9 Million Won... Budget Should Be Reduced"

Han Byung-do Points Out "Excessive Even Considering Prices in Host Countries"

The Bank of Korea has been criticized for providing excessively expensive housing to employees dispatched to overseas offices. In particular, the monthly rent for residences of staff stationed in Hong Kong reached around 9 million won.

According to data submitted by the Bank of Korea to Han Byung-do, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the Bank supports monthly rents exceeding 10 million won for 20 leased official residences and staff houses where overseas office employees reside.

The overall average monthly rent was 5.52 million won, with an average area of 141㎡ (approximately 43 pyeong).

According to the lawmaker's office, as of July this year, the most expensive staff houses in terms of monthly rent were two residences for employees stationed in Hong Kong, with rents of 9.04 million won and 8.1 million won respectively. The official residence at the Beijing office was 7.25 million won, the staff house for the Washington office was 6.03 million won, and the London office staff house was 5.91 million won.

The Bank of Korea operates five overseas offices in New York, Frankfurt, Tokyo, London, and Beijing to collect foreign information. It dispatches staff to three locations: Washington, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, with a total of 34 dispatched personnel excluding locally hired employees.

Previously, in September 2018, the Board of Audit and Inspection issued a warning to the Bank of Korea, stating that even if personnel are not stationed locally, financial information can be investigated and collected, and thus the number of overseas office staff should be reduced.

Assemblyman Han emphasized, "Even considering housing prices and living costs in each dispatched country, supporting monthly rents of several million won is excessive," adding, "The Bank of Korea should accept the criticisms from the National Assembly and the Board of Audit and Inspection and take steps to reduce the budget."

The Bank of Korea unveiled the exterior of its newly constructed integrated annex, completed after six years, in Jung-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 27th. Photo by Joint Press Corps

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