[2025 Audit] Government Stockpiled Masks Face Mass Disposal Due to Expiration

Masks that the government stockpiled as an emergency measure during the COVID-19 pandemic are now at risk of being discarded in large quantities due to expiration. Criticism has emerged over the fact that these disease control supplies, purchased with taxpayer money, have been left in warehouses and are now facing disposal.

Park Seonghun, Member of the National Assembly. Photo provided by the office of the member.

According to data submitted by Seonghoon Park, a member of the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee (People Power Party, Buk-gu-eul, Busan), from the Public Procurement Service, as of August, out of a total of 37.28 million masks stockpiled by the government, 18.61 million have less than six months remaining before expiration.

Furthermore, the remaining 18.67 million masks also have only about one year to one and a half years left before expiration, making it virtually inevitable that most of the stock will have to be discarded.

Previously, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the government designated masks as an "emergency supply control item" and stockpiled 150 million masks. Additionally, it continued to purchase and stockpile tens of millions of masks each year through 2023.

However, after the end of the pandemic, demand for masks plummeted, and the annual release volume, which reached 127 million in 2022, dropped sharply to around 6 million in 2024, resulting in a rapid increase in inventory.

In response, the Public Procurement Service, in consultation with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency in July, adjusted the stockpile target to 37 million masks (plus alpha). However, there are concerns that fiscal inefficiency is being repeated, as the government is required to repurchase the same amount as the masks discarded due to expiration.

Even considering the previous necessity of stockpiling large quantities of masks to respond to the spread of new infectious diseases, there is growing support for calls to improve the current mask stockpile management system and inventory control processes.

Park stated, "It is necessary to keep masks in reserve in preparation for emergencies, but if mismanagement leads to the repeated disposal of large quantities of masks, this is not preparation but waste."

He added, "If mask stockpiling is unavoidable, the government should actively consider using them for social contribution projects, such as providing them to welfare facilities and vulnerable countries overseas before they expire. Restructuring the government’s stockpile management system to create a virtuous cycle of inventory is an efficient way to manage public finances."