Board of Audit and Inspection: "Overseas Mission Attach? Evaluations Are Formalistic... Theft Incidents Also Not Reported"

Audit Results on the Operation Status of Overseas Diplomatic Missions

The Audit Board revealed that the rate of non-submission of regular activity reports by overseas mission officers has not decreased, and that evaluations of these officers are conducted in a formalistic and lenient manner. It was also found that some overseas missions failed to properly report incidents such as thefts to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On the 20th, the Audit Board released the report titled "Audit Results on the Operation of Overseas Missions," stating that audits were conducted on eight overseas missions including the Embassy of Japan and Korean Cultural Centers abroad, confirming 13 cases of illegal or improper matters.

According to the Audit Board, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for managing the regular activity reports of officers and must notify the officers' original affiliated ministries of the work performance evaluations and performance contract evaluations. The original affiliated ministries then reflect these results in future personnel management. However, the submission rate of regular activity reports was found to be low, and the evaluations based on these reports were also inadequate.

In the evaluations, over 90% of the subjects received the highest grade (E) or the second-highest grade (S), indicating that the evaluations were conducted leniently, making it difficult for the original affiliated ministries to utilize these evaluation results in future personnel management.

In the second half of 2022, the Consul General of the Consulate General in New York, shortly after assuming office, did not check the regular activity report submissions of the officers, citing unfamiliarity with their work performance, and awarded the highest grade in all categories to all six officers.

In 2022, the Customs Officer at the Embassy of Japan was late on approximately 69% of the recorded working days during the year, yet received top grades across all categories in both the first and second half-year evaluations despite having no notable work achievements.

The Audit Board also pointed out that the results of officers’ contacts with key personnel were not systematically recorded or managed in the system, making it difficult to verify the authenticity or outcomes of such contacts.

There was also a case where a relevant officer failed to promptly report local regulations concerning important items. The Customs Officer at the Embassy of China confirmed the Chinese government’s announcement of regulations related to urea in 2021 but did not promptly report this to the relevant ministries, which led to complaints from Korean companies operating locally.

At the Embassy to the Holy See and the Embassy to Croatia, incidents of theft involving artworks and vehicles occurred in 2022 due to illegal intrusion by outsiders. However, the embassies did not report these incidents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ security officers, and security vulnerabilities remained unaddressed as of the audit in July of last year.

The Consulate General in Osaka hired professional administrative staff by arbitrarily conducting document screening without going through the personnel committee.

The Audit Board stated, "We have notified the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish performance standards for officers, systematically record and manage the results of contacts with key personnel, and create specific evaluation criteria that reflect officers’ work performance, among other improvement measures."

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