Parliament wraps up rice subsidies probe without clear conclusion

SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Yonhap) -- An independent parliamentary probe into a government subsidy scandal involving lawmakers and public officials ended with a whimper on Tuesday, leaving more questions than answers.

The 44-day inquiry into the corruption scam, which involved thousands of
government officials including the former vice health minister, opened with a
bang last month. Farmers who remained unconvinced that legal authorities would
conduct a transparent investigation had requested a separate probe by
legislators.
But the National Assembly probe was hardly productive, with parties spening most
of their time wrangling over which administration was more to blame for the holes
in the system. They failed to reveal exactly how much of the subsidies had gone
to ineligible recipients over the past years and how many state workers were
involved in the case.
The government pledged to return the misplaced funds to their rightful owners by
the end of this year, but the process will most likely be delayed as the
investigation drags on.
The rice farming subsidy system was established in 2005 under the administration
of then President Roh Moo-hyun to support low-income farmers who would be hurt by
the opening of the Korean rice market to cheaper imports. Only those who actually
produce rice -- excluding those who simply own rice paddies -- are eligible for
the state subsidies.
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. She was replaced soon after, making her the fourth Cabinet member to step
down since President Lee Myung-bak took office in February.
"The two parties were supposed to form one investigative team, but ended up
working separately," said Kim Woo-nam, a lawmaker of the main opposition
Democratic Party (DP) and member of the parliamentary investigative team. "I
admit we have failed to come up with much results."
Running out of time, Kim's party on Monday requested the prosecution to expand
its ongoing investigation into 2,882 state employees.
The main opposition claims at least 4,200 public workers sidestepped regulations
to pocket nearly 200 billion won (US$152 million) of the 4 trillion won that was
spent since the subsidy system was established.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) calls the claim "skewed."
"It is not an official result of the parliamentary probe," a ruling party
official said.
The ruling GNP appeared less active during the probe, especially after some of
its lawmakers were found to have received the rice funds. They claimed they were
rightful recipients as their parents farmed rice, but refused the opposition
party's demand to appear before the parliamentary hearing.
According to state data revealed by the DP, 170,000 among the 283,000 subsidy
recipients have occupations other than farming. Of those, 334 are court
officials, 250 are prosecution staff and 51 are legislators. The audit board
refused to make their names public, citing their right to privacy.
The main opposition party has not been free from criticism either, as the former
Roh government has been held accountable for failing to address the errors in the
subsidy system earlier.
Many of the ranking officials under suspicion are said to have worked for both
Roh and Lee administrations, implicating involvement on both sides of the
political divide.
Observers say officials and legislators who own land likely applied for the
subsidies in order to evade heavy property taxes, rather than for the subsidies
themselves.
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 are actual farmers, non-farmers are able to abuse
the system.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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