Korea Rural Community Corporation Abolishes Child Allowance
22 Billion Won to Be Recovered Following Budget Regulation Violation
The Korea Rural Community Corporation has decided to abolish the child allowance it has been providing since last year and to recover the amounts already paid. This measure comes in response to a Ministry of Economy and Finance management evaluation, which pointed out violations of budget operation regulations.
According to Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Samseok (Yeongam, Muan, and Sinan in South Jeolla Province) on September 8, the Korea Rural Community Corporation will recover 2,216,870,000 won in child allowances that had been paid since January of last year. The number of employees subject to repayment is 1,898, and each must return between 120,000 won and 3,600,000 won.
System Abolished Just One Year After Introduction Following Ministry of Economy and Finance Evaluation
Korea Rural Community Corporation Headquarters in Bitgaram Innovation City, Naju, Jeollanam-do. Korea Rural Community Corporation
The Korea Rural Community Corporation began providing the child allowance after the system was revised in December 2023. At that time, the system was improved to allow public institutions to provide child allowances and childbirth celebration payments at the level currently provided to civil servants, regardless of wage increase rates. The labor union proposed the introduction of the child allowance to management, and consensus was reached at the labor-management council in the fourth quarter of 2023. The corporation introduced the child allowance and began payments in January 2024 following resolutions by the management committee and board of directors.
The child allowance became an issue after the Ministry of Economy and Finance's 2024 management evaluation in April pointed out that "allowances converted into basic salary or base annual salary cannot be reintroduced," thus violating budget operation regulations. Upon inquiring with the ministry, the corporation concluded that there had been a problem with budget management, decided to abolish the child allowance, and began recovering the related amounts. Regarding health insurance premium calculations, 2,751 employees were notified to pay an additional 472,740,000 won, while 2,976 employees were refunded 395,850,000 won.
It was reported that differences between the amounts imposed by the corporation and the actual amounts paid by employees arose due to changes in eligibility, such as leave of absence or overseas dispatch, and changes in monthly salary, resulting in additional payments or refunds. The corporation stated to Assemblyman Seo's office that after completing the recovery of the child allowance and insurance premiums, it would investigate the facts internally and, through an audit request, determine responsibility and establish measures to prevent recurrence.
Assemblyman Seo Samseok said, "Although the child allowance is an extension of the government's policy to overcome the low birth rate, recovering allowances that employees have already received just to address the management evaluation distorts the original intent of the policy. Through the National Assembly audit, I will examine the status of child allowance payments at public institutions under the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee and work to improve the system to prevent cases like this at the Korea Rural Community Corporation from happening again."
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