"Unplanted 'Rice Farming Damage'... 1,091 Cases of Fraudulent Disaster Insurance Claims Detected"

50 Cases of Non-Compliance with Damage Assessment Procedures
86 Cases of Operational Expense Misuse Also Confirmed

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] A total of 1,091 cases were identified where agricultural and fishery disaster insurance was improperly claimed, such as receiving insurance underwriting for rice paddies but actually having forest land or cultivating other crops. Cases of excessive labor costs or expenses by insurance operators were also detected.

On the 12th, according to the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Government Joint Anti-Corruption Promotion Team announced the results of an investigation conducted from July to November last year on agricultural and fishery disaster insurance in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and the Korea Agricultural Policy Insurance & Finance Service.

Agricultural and fishery disaster insurance is a policy insurance introduced in 2001 to protect farmers and fishers from natural disasters such as abnormal weather. Government subsidies for this policy insurance have surged from 366.3 billion KRW in 2019 to 489.9 billion KRW in 2020, 548.3 billion KRW in 2021, and 670.7 billion KRW in 2022.

▲ In the past 20 years, farmland exceeding six times the area of Seoul has been converted, rapidly reducing the land available for crop cultivation.

The inspection found a total of 1,091 cases of inaccurate insurance underwriting. Among them, 539 cases were recorded as rice paddies but were not, and 538 cases had discrepancies in cultivated area. There were also 10 cases of livestock barns not registered in the building register and 4 cases where fruit quantities such as apples and pears were not confirmed.

Additionally, 50 cases of non-compliance with damage assessment procedures were found, such as when the insurance recruiter and damage assessor were the same person, and 86 cases of operational expense mismanagement, including excessive allocation of labor and miscellaneous expenses by insurance operators.

Accordingly, the Promotion Team stated that the estimated amount to be returned due to inaccurate insurance underwriting is about 61 million KRW, and the estimated subsidy return due to operational expense mismanagement is about 44 million KRW.

The Promotion Team evaluated, "Through this joint inspection, we reviewed whether insurance underwriting procedures, damage assessments, and operational expenses are being properly managed, and also identified areas for system improvement to ensure that disaster insurance effectively contributes to the management stability of farmers and fishers."