BAI to Audit Election Management Budget, LH, and Overseas Missions in Second Half... School Violence and Drug Addiction Included

Year-Round Inspections of Regional Corruption and Illegal or Unfair Practices Affecting Public Livelihoods

The Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAI) will focus its audits in the second half of this year on the budgeting and execution of election management funds, as well as Korean Land and Housing Corporation (LH), the operation of overseas diplomatic missions, and the police body camera introduction project. Areas closely related to public life, such as the management of drug addicts, response to school violence, and youth safe housing, have also been included as audit targets.

Yonhap News Agency

The BAI announced on the 13th that it finalized the "2026 Second Half Audit Plan" during a board meeting held on the 2nd of this month.

The BAI stated that while it will maintain the fundamental direction of this year's annual audit plan, it has partially adjusted the details to reflect discussions from the "Operational Policy Task Force," which has been active over the past six months, and recent changes in the audit environment. The agency emphasized its intention to concentrate its audit capacity on swiftly addressing administrative issues and enhancing the convenience of citizens, who are the ultimate beneficiaries of government policies.

In the performance and special issue audit sector, the BAI included the budgeting and execution of election management funds. Previously, the agency launched an audit into the budgeting and execution process for election funds in response to incidents where voting was suspended at some polling stations due to a shortage of ballot papers during the June 3 local elections.

The BAI also plans to scrutinize the management of total project costs, water resources construction projects, the public institution priority purchasing system, support for start-ups and venture companies, supervision of insurance industry soundness, support for glocal universities, and copyright management systems, among other major government policy projects.

In the climate and environment sector, audits will cover greenhouse gas reduction policies in the transportation sector, operation of the climate response fund, promotion of green finance, and management of recyclable household waste. Areas such as supervision of apartment management, Seoul youth safe housing, the Seoul city bus support system, and safety management for marine leisure tourism, as well as other housing, transportation, and regional development projects, have also been included in the audit list.

Audits in the social safety sector will address drug addiction prevention and management, responses to school violence, management of information resources in the medical sector, and management of road traffic safety vulnerabilities. The police body camera introduction project, operation of investigation administration, and the management of overseas diplomatic missions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are also subject to review.

Regular audit targets among central administrative agencies include the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Budget, Seoul and Central Regional Tax Offices, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission. Among local governments, North Gyeongsang Province, Daejeon Metropolitan City, Yongin Special City, Gangneung City, Pohang City, and Shinan County will undergo audits.

Public institutions subject to regular audits include LH, Korea Securities Depository, Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, Korea Investment Corporation, National Health Insurance Service, Korea Environment Corporation, and the Agency for Defense Development.

The BAI plans to conduct year-round inspections of regional corruption, illegal and unfair practices in areas affecting people's livelihoods, as well as fraudulent expenditures and fiscal leaks in public finances. The agency also intends to strictly address passive administration and moral hazard among public officials to establish discipline within the civil service.

However, to prevent the public sector from becoming overly passive due to audit-related pressure, the BAI plans to ease the exemption criteria for proactive administration and to expand the pre-consultation system. A BAI official explained, "Along with audits aimed at improving public convenience, we will focus on fostering an energetic and competent public sector."

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