Only Overall Details Disclosed, No Specific Information on Detailed Items
[Asia Economy reporters Lee Gwan-ju, Jeong Dong-hoon, Song Seung-yoon] The inaccurate explanations by the Justice and Memory Foundation and Yoon Mi-hyang, the elected proportional representative of the Democratic Party of Korea (former director of the Justice and Memory Foundation), regarding the 'Anseong Shelter (House where Peace and Healing Meet)'?a space dedicated to comfort women victims?are only fueling further suspicions. This is because only the overall summary without detailed breakdowns has been disclosed, prompting calls for more concrete evidence.
On the 19th, the property tax for the Anseong Shelter last year was calculated to be just about 120,000 KRW. Including the urban area property tax would raise it to 260,000 KRW, but after reviewing Anseong city ordinances and announcements, it was confirmed that the center is not subject to the urban area property tax.
The property tax for the Anseong Shelter was based on the individual housing price of 176 million KRW in 2019. The Justice and Memory Foundation purchased and registered this place in October 2013, intending to use it as a shelter for comfort women victims. The individual housing price in 2014 was 158 million KRW, which increased by about 10% over five years. In other words, the 120,000 KRW property tax was calculated based on the maximum individual housing price. If the maximum property tax is applied for six years, it amounts to about 720,000 KRW. According to the explanatory materials distributed by the Justice and Memory Foundation to the media the previous day, the total operating expenses from 2014 to 2019 were 93,037,450 KRW. Of this, 77.42 million KRW was paid as labor costs to the father of the elected representative Yoon Mi-hyang, who was in charge of building management.
The issue lies with the remaining 15,609,980 KRW. The Justice and Memory Foundation stated that this cost was for 'management fees,' including electricity, water, and property taxes. However, since the maximum property tax calculated is about 720,000 KRW, this implies that the remaining approximately 14.88 million KRW was spent on electricity and water bills. The Justice and Memory Foundation explained that the reason for putting the shelter up for sale was that the grandmothers participating in rallies and testimony activities found it difficult to reside permanently in Anseong, and thus the sale was actively pursued from 2016 onward. They also stated that there were no separate donations for the center and that income was solely from rental fees to allied organizations for network formation, with only 5 to 7 uses per year, which was not frequent. Given such low usage, the fact that water and electricity bills amounting to several million KRW were incurred annually is a point that the Justice and Memory Foundation needs to clarify again.
Yoon Mi-hyang, Member-elect of the National Assembly (former Chairperson of the Justice and Memory Solidarity). [Image source=Yonhap News]
The reason the Justice and Memory Foundation's explanations amplify suspicions is due to their reluctance to disclose detailed breakdowns. Earlier, when controversy arose over excessive costs spent on shelter interior work, the Justice and Memory Foundation released materials on the 17th explaining costs by category. However, even there, they only categorized expenses as construction costs (gas connection, CCTV installation, electrical expansion, installation of management containers, fireplace installation, etc.) totaling 34,755,000 KRW, purchase of goods (air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, beam projectors, etc.) totaling 14,361,700 KRW, and consumables (blinds, sinks, tableware, etc.) totaling 29,377,500 KRW, without disclosing detailed breakdowns. Ultimately, voices demanding that the Justice and Memory Foundation and elected representative Yoon transparently disclose detailed expenditure records to clearly dispel suspicions are gaining traction.
Meanwhile, perspectives within civil society regarding this Justice and Memory Foundation controversy are sharply divided, deepening the conflict. Those supporting the Justice and Memory Foundation argue that its activities should not be disparaged due to accounting errors. The 'Civil Society Organizations Solidarity Conference,' a coalition of over 330 organizations nationwide including People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice, and Korean Women’s Associations United, issued a statement on the 14th asserting that "a significant portion of the recent allegations and controversies are either inaccurate or greatly distorted," and that "only some immature accounting practices were identified, and most embezzlement suspicions have been explained." Sixteen Democratic Party lawmakers and elected representatives also released a joint statement publicly supporting elected representative Yoon.
Conversely, conservative-leaning civic groups such as the Action Alliance for the Restoration of Rule of Law and the Judicial Examination Preparation Group have intensified their offensive by consecutively filing complaints with prosecutors against elected representative Yoon and Justice and Memory Foundation officials. As of the previous day, there were a total of eight cases filed by conservative groups. On the morning of this day, the Liberty Solidarity held a rally in front of the Justice and Memory Foundation office in Seongsan-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, demanding Yoon’s resignation. They stated, "The allegations against the Justice and Memory Foundation and elected representative Yoon raised so far are just the tip of the iceberg," urging Yoon’s voluntary resignation and swift investigation by prosecutors.
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