Bupyeong District Council Member Kim Dong-min: "100 Billion Won of Taxpayer Money for Self-Support Projects, No More Excuses of Tradition"

Voices have emerged criticising the poor accounting management and discipline of the self-support project, which has an annual budget of 10 billion won, in the Incheon Bupyeong District Council. In particular, there were strong demands for administrative reform due to the neglect of legal compliance under the pretext of a 'tradition' that has continued for several years.

During the 4th Administrative Welfare Committee meeting of the 274th Bupyeong District Council held on the 2nd, Member Kim Dong-min (Democratic Party·Bupyeong 2, 5, 6-dong, Bugae 1-dong, Ilshin-dong) focused on the overall accounting transparency and supervision system of the district in the main business report targeting the Social Security and Welfare Policy Departments.

In questioning the Social Security Department, Member Kim stated, "The issues raised in last year's administrative audit regarding the lease contract problems, fragmented contracts, and the absence of task instructions indicate that the accounting issues at the self-support centre are at a serious level," and added, "Excuses such as 'I didn't know' or 'it was a tradition' for projects funded by the precious taxes of the people can no longer be tolerated."

In response, the district announced plans to conduct separate guidance inspections starting this week based on the results of a specific audit conducted jointly by the auditor and the relevant departments until the 23rd of last month. The head of the Social Security Department stated, "If the specific audit focused on clarifying the allegations raised, the guidance inspection to be implemented from tomorrow will serve as an opportunity to closely examine the overall accounting and management of donations that have not been verified so far on an annual basis."

Subsequently, Member Kim reprimanded the Welfare Policy Department for the delay in follow-up measures regarding the management of personal accounts for profits of the Community Security Council. Member Kim pointed out, "It has been two months since we agreed to report in writing on strengthening guidance and supervision measures, yet there is still no concrete roadmap in sight."

The head of the Welfare Policy Department explained, "To prevent similar cases, we have already issued official documents four times to 22 districts," and added, "We will conduct comprehensive field monitoring this month and in March, we will provide consulting that includes financial and accounting practical training for private chairpersons."

Member Kim Dong-min emphasised, "Intensive audits by the department are necessary to ensure that the budget is used for participants in self-support to achieve complete independence," and urged, "Please report the improvement measures for the issues raised in writing as soon as possible."