Illicit Acquisition of Electronics Using Training Budgets Uncovered
Public Institution Employees Exploit Online Platforms for Personal Gain
Employee A, who works for a public institution, took an online learning content package worth 1.27 million won through an online education platform and unlawfully acquired an Apple iPad Pro valued at 1.03 million won. At this institution, it was found that 953 employees had, over five years from 2020 to 2024, received a total of 1.1644 billion won in support over 953 instances, and unlawfully acquired personal items worth 1.02549 billion won using similar methods.
Another executive, Employee B, at a different public institution, took an online learning content package worth 1.5 million won and unlawfully acquired a Galaxy Tab S10 valued at 1.25 million won. At this public institution, 493 employees were found to have received a total of 624.37 million won in support over 794 instances from 2020 to 2024, and unlawfully acquired personal items estimated to be worth 508.6 million won using similar methods. Nevertheless, some data (records of 16.369 million won in training expenses provided to 161 employees) were not submitted.
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced on September 2, 2025, that it had launched an investigation after receiving reports that "some public institution employees are personally acquiring electronic devices using training expenses," and released the results of its related fact-finding survey.
The investigation found that, among the ten institutions subject to intensive inspection, nine institutions provided about 2.5 billion won in training expenses to 1,805 employees, of which approximately 2.1 billion won was used to purchase personal electronic devices such as laptops, tablet PCs, smartphones, and vacuum cleaners.
According to the "Budget Operation Guidelines for Public Enterprises and Quasi-Governmental Institutions," training expenses must be used solely for the purpose of enhancing employees' work capabilities and self-development. The acquisition of personal assets, such as electronic devices, is strictly prohibited. However, some online education platforms collected orders for desired electronic devices in advance and bundled them with educational content, effectively acting as purchasing agents for electronic devices. Public institution employees exploited this system to obtain personal items.
Cases of Illegitimate Exam Fee Support Also Detected
The commission's investigation also uncovered cases in which employees received support for exam fees but either did not actually take the exams or canceled their registration and kept the refunds. Some institutions set up similar budgets that mixed the nature of training expenses and welfare expenses, and used this overlap to indirectly support the purchase of electronic devices by duplicating support with customized welfare funds. This is a direct violation of the Ministry of Economy and Finance's "Guidelines for the Operation of the Plan for Normalizing Lax Management."
The commission has demanded that institutions found to have misused training expenses must: ▲ immediately stop the purchase of electronic devices through training expenses ▲ recover the amount of improper expenditures ▲ establish internal disciplinary regulations. It also stated that for institutions that refused to submit data without valid reasons, it will recover the related budget through additional audits and disciplinary actions.
Chairman Yoo Cheolhwan stated, "The commission will continue to thoroughly monitor waste and misuse of various budgets, including training expenses," and added, "We will actively conduct fact-finding investigations to prevent corrupt practices in public institutions and enhance public trust in the government."
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