Self-Inspection of Support Conducted for 243 Local Governments Nationwide
[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] On the 10th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety held a meeting of the 17 provincial and metropolitan city policy office chiefs chaired by the Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, deciding to strengthen the management system for local subsidies provided to non-profit private organizations by local governments.
This strengthening of the management system follows the recent government announcement to improve issues such as the misuse of national subsidies provided to non-profit private organizations. As part of this effort, local governments nationwide, totaling 243, will also enhance management of local subsidies through self-inspections and other measures.
To this end, each local government will establish a self-investigation plan for local subsidies to non-profit private organizations and conduct self-inspections by February this year. In particular, the focus will be on checking for misuse of subsidies, fraudulent or improper receipt of local subsidies, and illegal accounting practices such as manipulation of expenditure documents. Based on the investigation results, corrective actions will be taken, and if necessary, each local government will conduct internal audits according to their circumstances.
Additionally, strict pre- and post-management of local subsidies under the Local Subsidy Act will be enforced, and efforts will be made to ensure the early establishment of the Local Subsidy Management System (Botaem-e), which is currently in its second phase of implementation since January this year. Through Botaem-e, local governments will thoroughly carry out management procedures for local subsidies supporting non-profit private organizations from the budget planning stage to project execution, settlement, inspection, and post-sanction stages, thereby preventing fraudulent receipt.
The second phase of the Local Subsidy Management System (Botaem-e) changes the local subsidy execution method to a pre-verification and post-disbursement/execution system through dedicated local government accounts, replacing the previous pre-disbursement and post-settlement method. The execution of local subsidies through Botaem-e was introduced to metropolitan cities and provinces in January and will be expanded to cities, counties, and districts in July. To support this, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to provide Botaem-e training for responsible officials and private subsidy project operators by region.
Separately, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will collect self-investigation results from local governments and conduct additional on-site verifications and inspections for projects requiring further confirmation regarding subsidy execution processes. The results of these verifications and inspections will be comprehensively analyzed to identify improvements in local subsidy work procedures and actively promote institutional and system enhancements.
Han Chang-seop, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated, “I urged thorough investigations to ensure no blind spots occur during local governments’ self-investigations of local subsidies. We will work with local governments to promote institutional improvements so that local subsidies can be operated transparently and responsibly.”
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