NACF Chairman Kang Hodong Summoned by Police Again... Questioned over Alleged Receipt of Money and Gifts

Allegations include receiving a large condolence payment at his mother-in-law's funeral
Questioned for the second time since his first suspect interview in April
Investigation also examines allegations of buying expensive gifts with public funds

Kang Hodong, chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, has been summoned by police again over allegations including receiving money and other valuables.

Kang Hodong, chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, gives a work report during a parliamentary audit of the federation and other organizations by the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee on Oct. 24 last year. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

According to police, Kang appeared at around 9:20 a.m. on October 19 at the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Metropolitan Investigation Unit for questioning as a suspect on charges including bribery.

Kang is suspected of receiving a large condolence payment in May 2025, when his mother-in-law died. He is also accused of accepting KRW 100 million in cash on two occasions from the head of a service company that did business with an NH NongHyup affiliate, in exchange for business favors, around the January 2024 election for chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation.

Police have previously questioned heads of NongHyup cooperatives who gave Kang condolence money about how the money was delivered and whether it was given in exchange for favors. They raided the chairman’s office at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and other locations in October 2025, and questioned Kang as a suspect for the first time in April 2026.

The investigation also covers allegations of misappropriation of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation’s internal funds. One of its departments is alleged to have spent about KRW 240 million in public funds from 2024 through 2025 on expensive gifts, including red ginseng and cosmetics, and delivered them to the chairman’s and vice chairman’s offices. On September 30, the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Cha, an employee in the federation chairman’s secretariat who is suspected of occupational embezzlement, citing concerns that evidence could be destroyed.

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