Financial Scandals in Agricultural, Livestock, and Fisheries Cooperatives Cause 113.7 Billion KRW Losses Over the Past 5 Years

Democratic Party Lawmaker Im Mi-ae: "Internal Control Measures Must Be Established"

Over the past five years, 300 financial incidents have occurred in the mutual finance sectors of Nonghyup, Chukhyup, and Suhyup, resulting in damages exceeding 113.7 billion KRW. There are calls for urgent implementation of strong internal control measures to prevent financial accidents.

According to data on financial incidents since 2019 submitted by Lim Mi-ae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Nonghyup Central Association and Suhyup Central Association, Nonghyup and Chukhyup experienced 280 incidents causing financial damages of 110.1 billion KRW. The amount recovered was 47 billion KRW, with a recovery rate of 43%, leaving damages amounting to 63.1 billion KRW. However, based on confirmed loss criteria, the number of incidents was 261 cases with 48.2 billion KRW in damages, and the recovered amount was 28.7 billion KRW.

By type of incident, embezzlement was the most frequent with 75 cases. This was followed by private loans at 55 cases, improper access to personal information at 35 cases, violations of the real-name financial system at 28 cases, and fraud at 26 cases. Regarding disciplinary actions against the employees involved, dismissal was the most common with 87 cases. This was followed by salary reductions in 65 cases, reprimands in 50 cases, and suspensions in 26 cases. There were 24 cases currently under litigation, investigation, or review, and 5 cases where disciplinary action could not be taken due to reasons such as statute of limitations.

In the case of Suhyup, there have been a total of 20 financial incidents since 2019. The amount involved was 3.6 billion KRW, with approximately 1.6 billion KRW recovered, showing a recovery rate of about 44%. The damages amounted to 2 billion KRW.

Rep. Lim stated, "Nonghyup, Chukhyup, and Suhyup are cooperatives created through the investments of local farmers and fishermen, playing a central role in the regional economy. It is necessary to establish strong internal control measures and simultaneously strengthen employee training to prevent the occurrence of financial accidents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.