Only About 3,000 Households Supported
12,000 Farming Households Deprived of Their Rights
On the 9th, Seo Won, a member of the Nonsan City Council, raised suspicions that last year's horticultural special crop subsidy project in Nonsan City was an "illegal execution ignoring laws and procedures."
Allegations have been raised that the 2024 horticultural special crop subsidy project promoted by Nonsan City, South Chungcheong Province, was an "illegal execution ignoring laws and procedures." Out of a total of approximately 16,000 farming households, only 3,754 received support, while around 12,000 households were unable to even apply, a fact that is expected to spark controversy.
On September 9, during a plenary session inquiry, Nonsan City Council member Seo Won pointed out, "Pre-designation of specific organizations and omission of public recruitment and review are all violations of the law," adding, "This is a typical case of depriving farmers of their rights."
Assemblyman Seo cited standards for local government budget management, the Local Subsidy Management Act, the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, and codes of conduct for public officials and council members, stating, "Subsidy projects must go through public recruitment and review, but in this case, those procedures were completely ignored."
In fact, the support plan document specified a particular organization and amount in advance, and it was confirmed that a provincial assembly member had signed off on it.
Nonsan City is embroiled in controversy as it was revealed that a specific organization and amount were predetermined in relation to the '2024 Horticulture and Special Crops Regional Customized Project,' and that a Chungnam Provincial Council member had signed off on it.
He referred to a 2017 joint government audit case involving South Chungcheong Province, saying, "At that time, a similar method of expedient subsidy execution was uncovered, resulting in disciplinary action and requests for investigation," and argued, "Nonsan City is repeating the same mistake."
In particular, it was revealed that this project did not go through the procedures of public announcement, notification, or review by the Subsidy Management Committee.
Assemblyman Seo stressed, "Unlike other projects that followed standard procedures, I cannot understand why only this project was an exception," adding, "As a result, around 12,000 farming households became victims who could not even exercise their rights."
He also criticized some media reports, stating, "They are misleading citizens by only presenting the claims of certain groups without fact-checking," and added, "What citizens really want to know is whether the subsidies were executed fairly, what the criteria were, and why the majority of farmers were excluded."
He emphasized, "Targeting legitimate problem-raising as an attack is an act of deceiving citizens," and declared, "I will reveal the truth to the end to protect the rights of farmers and citizens."
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