Outline of NongHyup Reform: Legislation to Be Submitted in March

Institutionalizing Audit Independence and Preventing Vote-Buying
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Begins Legislative Process

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has completed detailed discussions on the agenda for reforming the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NongHyup) and will move forward with submitting related bills in March. The full-scale work to institutionalize key issues, such as strengthening the independence of the audit function and eradicating vote-buying with money or gifts, will now begin in earnest.

On February 27, at the Agricultural Policy Insurance & Finance Service in Yeouido, Seoul, the ministry held the 4th plenary meeting of the "NongHyup Reform Task Force." During this meeting, the ministry organized the main points of the detailed reform tasks that had been reviewed in both subcommittee and plenary meetings, and discussed strategies for advancing related legislation.

The NongHyup Reform Task Force is co-led by Professor Won Seungyeon of Myongji University and Vice Minister Kim Jonggu of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, with participation from academia, civic groups, and field experts. The task force has divided reform tasks into subcommittees, such as the internal control group and the electoral system group, to enable more specialized discussions.

At the meeting, the main focus was on organizational and personnel improvements to enhance the independence of the audit functions of both cooperative unions and the central federation, as well as on establishing procedures to ensure transparency in financial and human resources management. Additionally, measures to prevent vote-buying and to shift toward policy-based elections were subject to further opinion gathering and in-depth review. The ministry plans to submit related reform bills in March.

Professor Won stated, "Through this meeting, we will complete the substantial review of the bills and finalize actionable plans for institutional improvement." Vice Minister Kim also emphasized, "We will pursue prompt legislation after collecting feedback from the National Assembly and relevant ministries."

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