[2026 National Assembly Audit] Online Wholesale Market Transaction Value Surges... Mun Geumju: "Verify All Records for Inflated Figures"
"Volume with Fewer Distribution Stages Accounts for 12% of Total"
"Questions Raised Over Basis for 11.1% Reduction in Distribution Costs"
Amid a sharp increase in the value of transactions on the online wholesale market for agricultural and fisheries products, concerns have been raised that duplicate registration of transactions already conducted offline or the possibility of inflated performance figures should be investigated. Questions have also been raised about an analysis that distribution costs fell by 11.1%, with calls to verify whether this reflects an actual reduction in distribution stages and whether farmers’ incomes improved.
On October 14, Rep. Moon Geumju of the Democratic Party of Korea called for a comprehensive verification of transaction records and an assessment of results at a National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), conducted by the National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee.
The value of transactions on the online wholesale market for agricultural and fisheries products rose from 673.7 billion won in 2024 to 1.2364 trillion won in 2025. As of August 2026, the transaction value had also reached 1.0643 trillion won, exceeding the annual target of 1 trillion won.
The problem, Rep. Moon said, is that it is difficult to determine whether the increase in transaction value has led to substantive improvements in the distribution structure. The online and offline wholesale markets currently operate separate transaction registration systems, making it difficult to rule out the possibility of duplicate or false registrations of the same transactions, she said.
She also cited the fact that transaction records from the online wholesale market are linked to government support programs as a concern. Under the Joint Use Support Program for Logistics Equipment, the share of government funding can be increased by up to 20 percentage points based on the volume shipped through the online wholesale market. The Production-Area Distribution Revitalization Support Program, with an annual budget of 320 billion won, also allocated 32 billion won in 2025 and 48 billion won in 2026 based on sales through the online wholesale market.
Rep. Moon pointed out that, because transaction records affect the level of support and performance evaluations, there may be an incentive to inflate reported results by, for example, splitting existing offline transaction volumes into smaller entries.
She also called for verification of the claimed reduction in distribution costs. A study titled "2025 Performance Analysis of the Online Wholesale Market for Agricultural and Fisheries Products," commissioned by aT from the Chungnam National University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, found that the introduction of the online wholesale market reduced the distribution cost ratio by 11.1%. However, of the 673,105 tons of fixed-price and negotiated transactions conducted through the online wholesale market from 2023 to 2025, only about 85,000 tons actually saw a reduction in distribution stages, accounting for roughly 12% of the total.
Rep. Moon stressed that, since the volume that saw a reduction in distribution stages represents only a portion of all transactions, the basis for calculating the reduction in the distribution cost ratio should be clearly disclosed. She said the authorities should also verify whether lower distribution costs have actually led to higher prices received by farmers.
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Rep. Moon also said, "The online wholesale market was introduced not simply to increase transaction value, but to reduce distribution stages and raise farmers' incomes. We must thoroughly investigate whether there are any suspected cases of inflated performance figures, such as duplicate registrations, false transactions, or splitting transaction volumes."
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