iM Bank's 50-Year Monopoly on Daegu City Treasury... Yook Jungmi Urges Immediate Introduction of Competition Among Commercial Banks

Written Administrative Inquiry by Daegu City Council

Yook Jungmi, a proportional representative of the Democratic Party in the Daegu City Council, raised concerns on October 16 regarding the management of the city treasury through a written administrative inquiry. She pointed out the lack of transparency in public deposit interest income, the monopolistic structure of treasury management, and the stagnation of cooperative project funds. She emphasized, "It is urgent to improve the system so that taxpayers' money can be managed transparently and efficiently."

Assemblywoman Yook first stated, "There is a significant discrepancy between the estimated public deposit interest income presented in government audit materials or media reports and the actual settlement figures." She questioned the reasons for this gap and asked whether there are plans to disclose transparent and standardized indicators in the future.

Yook Jungmi Daegu City Councilor

She also noted that, despite sending official documents to all financial institutions, holding business briefings, and reopening the bidding process during the 2024 city treasury selection, iM Bank (formerly Daegu Bank) and Nonghyup Bank were once again designated as the first and second city treasuries, respectively.

Yook Jungmi pointed out, "The structural background behind iM Bank's monopoly of the first city treasury for 50 years since 1975 is that iM Bank maintains a competitive edge over other banks due to its largest branch network and community-based operations in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. This acts as a structural barrier that makes it difficult for other financial institutions to enter the city treasury market." She questioned how Daegu City perceives this issue.

She further cited examples such as Seoul City breaking Woori Bank's monopoly by designating Shinhan Bank as both the first and second city treasuries, and Busan and Gwangju expanding participation by commercial banks to encourage competition. She criticized, "Daegu City has lacked competition, resulting in cooperative project funds remaining at the same level for several years."

Assemblywoman Yook stressed, "The management of the city treasury should not be criticized for being opaque and inefficient." She added, "In the future, the city treasury bidding process must foster real competition, and the terms and conditions of cooperative project funds should be improved to enhance the transparency and efficiency of Daegu City's financial management."

She went on to say, "Excessive demands for cooperative project funds should be avoided," but also added, "A reasonable increase is necessary compared to other cities and provinces." She urged, "Daegu City must promptly establish a balanced plan for city treasury management."

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