Korea National Oil Corporation, KOTRA, and 11 Public Institutions Sign Joint Agreement on Advanced Overseas Office Audit Operations

Joint Development of Audit Techniques and Mutual Benchmarking of Best Practices

Promoting Joint Measures to Prevent Risks in Corruption-Prone Areas

Korea National Oil Corporation signed an "Audit Work Agreement for the Advancement of Internal Controls in Overseas Offices" with 11 other public institutions operating overseas offices, including KOTRA, at the International Conference Hall of KOTRA's headquarters in Seoul on the 12th of this month.

Korea National Oil Corporation, KOTRA, and 11 other public institutions operating overseas offices sign joint agreement on audit operations.

At the joint signing ceremony, about 30 key officials, including standing auditors and heads of audit departments from 12 public institutions, such as Korea National Oil Corporation, Korea Gas Corporation, Korea Tourism Organization, Korea International Cooperation Agency, Korea Southern Power, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, Human Resources Development Service of Korea, Korea Electric Power Technology, National Information Society Agency, Korea Creative Content Agency, KEPCO KPS, and KOTRA, were in attendance.

Overseas offices face physical challenges in control and management at the headquarters level due to the diversity of systems and regulations in each host country. Therefore, in line with the global trend of strengthening audits in the public sector, this agreement brought together standing auditors and key officials from 12 public institutions to upgrade the internal control system for overseas subsidiaries and to explore ways to enhance audit capabilities.

During the joint signing ceremony, the institutions pledged mutual cooperation through: ▲ joint development of audit techniques for overseas offices ▲ mutual benchmarking of best practices ▲ strengthening internal controls in corruption-prone areas ▲ seeking audit cooperation systems such as cross and joint audits ▲ sharing major regulations of host countries.

The officials who attended the signing ceremony unanimously stated, "Overseas offices are often blind spots in the headquarters' routine monitoring and are places with potential risks where problems may arise," adding, "With this agreement, a foundation has been established for the first time to share related audit techniques, and we will strengthen inter-agency cooperation to ensure systematic and effective internal control over overseas offices in the future."