Living as Overseas Employees in Luxury Residences and Houses... Public Enterprise Welfare Controversy

Over 4.8 Billion Won of Taxpayer Money Spent on Overseas Housing Rent
High Allowances Paid Despite Poor Performance
Excessive Welfare and Allowances
Criticism Over Waste of Public Funds

The Export-Import Bank of Korea and the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) have been revealed to spend 4.8 billion KRW annually on overseas housing rental fees for dispatched employees. In contrast, their performance is inadequate, leading to criticism of 'waste of taxpayers' money.'

According to data disclosed on the 22nd by Jeong Il-young, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the Export-Import Bank has dispatched 59 overseas employees to 31 cities in 29 countries, ranging from major countries such as the United States and Japan to developing countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, and Myanmar. Additionally, the Korea Investment Corporation has dispatched 22 overseas employees to six cities, including New Jersey, New York, and San Francisco in the United States, London in the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Mumbai in India.

They are provided with ▲support for overseas housing rental fees ▲overseas duty allowances ▲and approximately 12 million KRW annually for children's tuition support. Among these, the largest portion is the overseas housing rental fees. The Export-Import Bank spends 291 million KRW monthly, and the Investment Corporation spends 106 million KRW monthly. When annualized, these amounts are 3.49 billion KRW and 1.27 billion KRW, respectively.

By monthly payment amount, the order was ▲Singapore (Investment Corporation) 8.3 million KRW ▲Riyadh (Export-Import Bank) 8 million KRW ▲Singapore (Export-Import Bank) 8 million KRW ▲Singapore (Investment Corporation) 7.2 million KRW ▲Dubai (Export-Import Bank) 7 million KRW. Notably, one of the Export-Import Bank's overseas residences in Vietnam was found to be a residence in a domestic 5-star hotel chain equipped with a swimming pool, housing a family of three.

Overseas duty allowances were also found to exceed the level of public officials. In Bangladesh, for example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pays 3.8 million KRW monthly, but the Export-Import Bank pays 7.3 million KRW. In India, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pays 3.7 million KRW monthly, while the Investment Corporation pays 5.9 million KRW, exceeding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' standards in all countries.

Performance is far from satisfactory... "It is necessary to examine whether it is appropriate to excessively invest public resources"

However, there are criticisms that the performance is far from satisfactory compared to the welfare benefits such as overseas housing rental support, overseas duty allowances, and children's tuition support provided to them. For example, the Investment Corporation does not even manage the performance of overseas employees, citing that all investments are jointly managed with the headquarters. The Export-Import Bank also lowered the performance targets for overseas offices compared to the previous year as of this year for overseas employees.

Assemblyman Jeong said, “Living in luxury housing with public funds and receiving high overseas allowances at overseas workplaces may cause a sense of relative deprivation among citizens struggling due to the government's economic mismanagement,” adding, “In a situation where what they do overseas for national interests is not properly managed, it is necessary to thoroughly examine whether it is appropriate to excessively invest public resources.”