Illegal pocketing of rice farm subsidies triggers social storm

By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Yonhap) -- The alleged pilfering of state farming subsidies by
ranking government officials and lawmakers snowballed into a massive social
fracas Thursday, with farmers and civic groups demanding a list of names of those
who illegally pocketed the money.
At least 500 billion won (US$384 million) in government subsidies aimed at
supporting rice producers is believed to have gone to tens of thousands of
ineligible recipients over the past four years. The amount is expected to
increase once the audit board reveals its full report.
The case, which made headlines after a local newspaper reported the nation's vice
health minister had falsely applied for the money, has now grown into a massive
corruption scandal involving thousands of public servants. Opposition parties
claim at least 100 ranking officials in the incumbent government are also
implicated.
Two ruling party lawmakers and a minority party legislator were also found to
have received the farming subsidies in 2006, though whether they were eligible
recipients or not remained unknown as of Thursday.
The ruling Grand National Party on Thursday called on the government to retrieve
the misallocated subsidies and use them to fund policies to aid rice farmers.
"Thorough inspections come first -- to find out exactly how much has gone to
unqualified people -- then comes retrieval down to every single won," said ruling
party whip Hong Joon-pyo. "The money must be used rightfully in supporting the
rice farmers."
The rice farming subsidy system was established in 2005 under the former Roh
Moo-hyun administration to support low-income farmers who protested the opening
of the Korean rice market to cheaper imports. Only those who actually produce
rice, rather than owners of the rice paddies, are eligible for the state
subsidies.
Observers say officials and legislators likely applied for the subsidies in order
to evade heavy property taxes rather than for the money itself, in the process
inflicting financial losses on tenants who do the actual farming.
Under the country's tax law, individuals must farm the land for at least eight
years to receive tax deductions on their property. As the government does not
require proof that applicants for the subsidies actually engage in farming, it
opens opportunities for non-farmers to abuse the system.
According to the audit board's ongoing investigation, so far 280,000 of the
998,000 people who received rice farming subsidies in 2006 were found to be
"non-farmers." Of those, about 3,900 were listed as public servants, while 6,200
were employees of state-run corporations. These non-farmers received 168.3
billion won in 2006, more than 10 percent of the total rice farming subsidy of
1.62 trillion won given that year.
The Lee Myung-bak government is now facing mounting pressure to dismiss Vice
Welfare Minister Lee Hong-hwa, who first ignited the scandal and may become yet
another sore spot for the unpopular president who has been heavily criticized for
his choice of Cabinet members.
Prosecutors on Thursday launched an investigation into the allegations against
the vice minister following a request from a minority party, officials said.
An alliance of farmers' groups and the country's largest liberal civic group
continued to demand her dismissal Thursday, also pressing the government to
immediately disclose the names of public servants who unlawfully received the
subsidies.
President Lee expressed regret and ordered a "prompt and thorough probe" of the
case, his spokesman said Wednesday, but has not made any comment on the fate of
the vice minister.
Keen to launch a political battle over the scandal, opposition parties are also
demanding that Lee sack the vice minister and have been pressuring the Board of
Audit and Inspection to identify the incumbent senior officials who allegedly
received the subsidies. The audit agency claims it cannot disclose individual
names as recipients are categorized only by profession.
Many of the ranking officials now under suspicion have worked for both the Roh
and the Lee administrations, implicating both sides of the political divide.
"This should not turn into a blame game between former and incumbent
administrations," said Won Hye-young, floor leader of the Democratic Party. "As a
matter of morality among all public servants, investigators must get to the
bottom of the case and make public all the results."
hayney@yna.co.kr
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