[2025 Audit] Korean Sport & Olympic Committee Rated D, Paid Up to 20 Million Won in Bonuses Per Employee

Kim Seungsoo: "Even Disciplined Employees Received Bonuses"
Yoo Seungmin: "Not Excluded After Disciplinary Period Ends"

Yoo Seungmin, President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee Photo by Yonhap News

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee received a "Poor (Grade D)" rating in the government's management evaluation and ranked lowest (Grade 5) in integrity, yet it was found to have paid performance bonuses to its employees based on internal assessments. Some employees received more than 20 million won, and bonuses were even given to those who had been disciplined.

On October 27, Assemblyman Kim Seungsoo of the People Power Party pointed out during the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee audit, "An institution with revealed misconduct held a performance bonus party." According to the "2024 Management Evaluation Results Report" released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in July, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee received a Grade D due to various allegations of misconduct and ethical leadership issues. Although no bonuses were paid based on the government evaluation, separate performance bonuses were distributed according to internal criteria.

The recipients included employees who had been disciplined. According to Assemblyman Kim, an employee who was subjected to a pay cut in 2020 for workplace harassment received 20.71 million won that year and 19.85 million won the following year, totaling approximately 40 million won. In the same year, an employee who was dismissed for sexual assault received 20 million won. Last year, an employee who was suspended for workplace sexual harassment received 3.77 million won, and another who was dismissed for misconduct received 2.7 million won.

Article 7-2 of the "Regulations on Allowances for Public Officials" clearly states, "Unless there are special reasons, performance bonuses shall not be paid to those who have been disciplined." Assemblyman Kim criticized, "Paying performance bonuses to disciplined employees is a violation of the regulations," adding, "It is difficult to accept that, despite failing the management evaluation, the organization disguised the process with internal assessments and distributed bonuses uniformly to all employees."

Yoo Seungmin, President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, explained, "We did not pay bonuses during the disciplinary period, but after the period ended, we did not consider them as being excluded." In response, Assemblyman Kim pointed out, "While employees who worked hard should be respected, distributing performance bonuses to all employees regardless of evaluation results does not align with the intent of the system."

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