Role of Kang Ho-dong, NongHyup Chairman with an Annual Salary of 800 Million Won [News Figures]

Kang Ho-dong, Chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF), stated on the 18th at the 22nd National Assembly audit held by the National Assembly Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee, "I am carrying out my duties as chairman with the determination to fully earn my salary." This was in response to the criticism by Park Deok-heum, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who pointed out that Kang is receiving a high salary while concurrently serving as chairman of both the NACF and the Nongmin Sinmun newspaper.

Chairman Kang receives an annual salary of 318 million KRW from the NACF and 191 million KRW from Nongmin Sinmun this year. Next year, these salaries will be increased to 390 million KRW and 400 million KRW, respectively. Upon retirement, he is expected to receive retirement bonuses and severance pay, totaling an estimated 4 billion KRW over four years. Kang said, "I will do my best without hesitation to fulfill my role and not cause any concerns regarding my high salary."

Kang was elected as the 25th chairman of the NACF earlier this year. It is the first time in eight years since 2016 that someone from the Yeongnam region has been elected chairman. The NACF has 2.06 million members, with total fair assets amounting to 71 trillion KRW. Born in 1963, Kang graduated from Daegu Mirae College with a major in tax accounting and completed graduate studies in cooperative management at the NACF College. Kang is a 'NACF man' who joined the federation in 1982 and has served as a cooperative head five times. At the age of 42 in 2006, he was elected as the head of Yulgok Cooperative and served five terms. Kang developed Yulgok Cooperative into a 'small but strong cooperative' with assets totaling 250 billion KRW. He has also served as a director of the NACF, NACF Economic Holdings, and Nongmin Sinmun. In 2020, he ran for the 24th NACF chairman election and ranked third in votes. Kang contributed to the promotion of regional agricultural product exports. He nurtured the brand "Strawberries Loved at First Sight," for which he was awarded the Iron Tower Industrial Medal.

Kang has pledged to revitalize the economic activities of regional agricultural and livestock cooperatives and strengthen the role of mutual finance. He plans to create 20 trillion KRW in interest-free funds for agricultural and livestock cooperatives and provide support ranging from 20 billion to 50 billion KRW per cooperative to ease management burdens. He also proposed making mutual finance independent and developing it into a first-tier financial institution through product development and training of specialized personnel. Additionally, there is a plan to incorporate the NACF Economic Holdings' supervisory functions into the NACF to improve the efficiency of support for agricultural and livestock cooperatives.