Over 4,000 civil servants failed to report rice subsidies: opposition party

SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition party said Thursday that up to
4,200 state workers could have deliberately sidestepped regulations by pocketing
government subsidies devised to support the country's rice producers.
The National Assembly has been investigating since last month the corruption scam
involving thousands of civil servants and legislators who allegedly pilfered
money intended to compensate for farmers' losses after the market opened to
cheaper imports.
Nearly 4 trillion won (US$2.7 billion) has been spent since the subsidy system
was established in 2005, and at least 200 billion won is believed to have gone to
unqualified recipients.
Of the 10,700 government officials that received the farming subsidies in 2006,
only 39 percent, or 4,240 employees, voluntarily reported receipt of the funds to
the government, the Democratic Party (DP) said. The party's findings are based on
the list of 283,000 subsidy recipients recently handed over by the Board of Audit
and Inspection and the Agriculture Ministry's roster of the farmers' residential
addresses.
"This means four out of every 10 officials could be illegal recipients," the
party said. "All of them should be investigated thoroughly."
Rejecting government concerns that making the data public could harm the privacy
of even eligible subsidy takers, the liberal DP has been keen to point the finger
at people it says may have snatched the farmers' money.
It made public names of incumbent lawmakers including Reps. Joo Sung-young and
Lee Cheol-woo of the ruling Grand National Party, as well as local government
heads and regional council members who received the rice funds. The party
questions why there are no records showing that these ranking politicians bought
fertilizer or grain despite receiving the funds.
The lawmakers angrily denied the accusations and criticized the opposition party
for politicizing the issue, claiming their parents have long lived in the farming
villages as actual rice producers.
The DP has also said 170,000 among the 283,000 subsidy takers had occupations
other than farming. Of those, 334 are court officials, 250 are prosecution staff
and 51 are legislators.
The audit board on Thursday filed an official complaint to the parliamentary
investigation team, warning against a "witch hunt."
"We seriously regret seeing some names being made public when they have not been
confirmed as ineligible recipients," the board said. "We reiterate once again
that the list includes many rightful subsidy takers and therefore should not
cause them any harm."
The rice farming subsidy system was established under the administration of then
President Roh Moo-hyun to support low-income farmers. Only those who actually
produce rice are eligible for the state subsidies and owners of rice paddies who
do not engage in farm work are also excluded.
The scandal first made headlines in October after then vice health minister Lee
Bong-hwa was found to have applied for the money by falsely claiming she farmed
rice. The disgraced vice minister was replaced soon after, making her the fourth
Cabinet member to step down since President Lee Myung-bak took office in
February.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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