Senior Official at State Research Institute Took 50 Million Won via Vietnamese Account for Assisting ODA Project Bid

Confidential Bidding Documents Provided 19 Times
Board of Audit and Inspection Recommends Dismissal, Files Prosecutors' Report
University Professor Inflates Research Team to Divert Subsidies
Former Incheon Vice Mayor Pressured for Acquainta

The Board of Audit and Inspection has revealed through an audit that an executive at a state-run research institute demanded 50 million won from a company in exchange for helping it secure a public overseas development assistance (ODA) project worth 1.9 billion won and received the money through bank accounts belonging to local businesspeople in Vietnam. The investigation found that before the contractor was selected, this executive provided the company with undisclosed internal documents, such as design specifications, on 19 occasions.

Yonhap News Agency

On the 14th, the Board of Audit and Inspection released the results of its 'Public Service Discipline Inspection II' and announced disciplinary actions were recommended against 15 individuals involved in wrongdoing. Two of them, found to be suspected of crimes such as bribery and embezzlement of local subsidies, have been referred to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, Mr. A, a senior staff member at the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, oversaw an overseas smart city construction technology cooperation center project. In April 2022, he demanded 30 million won from an employee of a particular company, promising to help the company secure the project. He then provided undisclosed bidding documents, including design specifications, 19 times. When the company finally won a 1.94 billion won contract in October of the same year, Mr. A increased his demand to 50 million won.

The audit found that, via KakaoTalk, Mr. A said, "I'm grateful that you're willing to give me 30 million, but would 50 million be okay? Let’s keep everything a secret until we die." He then had the company employee transfer 50 million won to the bank account of his acquaintance, a local businessperson in Vietnam, after which the funds were converted to 10 million Vietnamese dong and moved to another local businessperson's account—the converted amount at the time was about 50 million won.

Separately, Mr. A also solicited the companies involved in the center construction project to cover his airfare and lodging expenses, receiving benefits worth 2.53 million won. In 2024, he also accepted airline tickets worth 1.06 million won from an acquaintance unrelated to his work duties. According to the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, even if unrelated to official duties, one cannot accept more than 1 million won in goods or money from the same individual at a time. The Board of Audit and Inspection has called for Mr. A's dismissal from the Institute and reported him to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on bribery and related charges.

A level 5 government official responsible for direct contracts for government printing was also found to have accepted money from a contractor. Mr. R of the Ministry of Data and Statistics, from 2018 to 2022, received a total of 5 million won in two installments from the president and an executive of a company with which the agency had signed direct-ordered printing contracts totaling 939 million won.

Although this company failed to meet the direct production requirement because it neither owned nor leased an offset printer, the Ministry of Data and Statistics failed to verify this and signed 26 direct contracts worth about 800 million won with the company from 2019 to 2024. In reality, the company outsourced all production to other printing companies. The Board of Audit and Inspection has recommended demotion for Mr. R and instructed the ministry to arrange for the cancellation of the company’s direct production verification.

A case was also uncovered in which a university professor inflated the number of research participants to fraudulently receive local subsidies. An assistant professor at a private university, who concurrently served as vice president of the Seoul Sports Association for the Disabled, fabricated documents to make it appear that four people, including fellow professors, were involved in research and evaluation work, when in fact he conducted all the work alone. He subsequently diverted the wages paid to the other professors into accounts held by himself and his nephew, embezzling a total of 11.28 million won. The Board of Audit and Inspection has ordered the return of the embezzled subsidy and disciplinary action, and reported the professor to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

An additional case was found in which a former vice mayor of Incheon unfairly intervened in the hiring process at a public organization to benefit an acquaintance. Former vice mayor AM informed his acquaintance of the upcoming job opening for secretary general of the Incheon Senior Human Resources Development Center and recommended the individual to the center director before the announcement was posted. Despite being informed that the acquaintance’s career in social welfare fell short of the 10-year requirement by about 11 months, the former vice mayor reportedly said, “I know this person well, so please take special care.”

The center later counted work experience not clearly related to the position when making the final hiring decision. The Board of Audit and Inspection concluded that the former vice mayor’s actions constituted an illegal hiring solicitation under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and has referred the matter to the court with jurisdiction over administrative fines.

It was also found that six employees of Korea Rural Community Corporation and a Cheonan City official had accepted entertainment, such as golf and meals, from job-related contractors. The corporation employees received 2.58 million won in hospitality on 16 occasions from 2021 to 2023 from company contacts, and the Cheonan official was provided 200,000 won worth of golf costs by the president of a waterworks equipment supplier.

The Board of Audit and Inspection stated, “In order to support efficient government administration, a system is needed in which public officials can concentrate on their work without being distracted by private interests. We will continue to inspect and monitor the public sector to prevent corruption.”

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