(EDITORIAL from Korea Times on Sept. 19)

dailies-editorials (2)

(EDITORIAL from Korea Times on Sept. 19)

Project full of irregularities

Further probe needed over solar panel funds

A government probe has found that the previous Moon Jae-in administration's renewable energy project was hit by widespread irregularities and wasted taxpayers' money. Last week, the Office of Government Policy Coordination under the prime minister announced findings that 261.6 billion won ($187.5 million) was misappropriated under the project.

The discovery was based on a sample investigation of 12 local autonomy units out of a total 226. The Moon administration spent 12 trillion won on the entire renewable energy project by mobilizing the electricity industry infrastructure fund raised by setting aside 3.7 percent of the public's power bill payments.

The office said that 2,267 cases of irregularities were found. The estimated misappropriated sum accounted for 12.5 percent of the 2.1 trillion won provided to the 12 local units for the project. Of the total cases, 1,406 projects worth 184.7 billion won were related to bank loans extended illegitimately to those who set up solar panels or other renewable energy devices.

The detected cases appear to be the tip of the iceberg. We call for thorough investigations into the entire local autonomy units to get to the bottom of the irregularities. It is also necessary for the government to recoup the misappropriated money from illegal recipients. It is also urgent to confirm if there were any corrupt ties between local officials and the recipients. Those found responsible for corruption should be subject to harsh punishment.

We have to ask why such large-scale and widespread misappropriation took place. The fundamental problem could have arisen from the Moon government's reckless and hasty push for the expansion of renewable energy amid its controversial nuclear energy phase-out policy. A lack of preparation and oversight was blamed for the irregularities and the waste of money.

President Yoon Suk-yeol condemned the misappropriation cases. "It's deplorable that taxpayers' money, which should be spent on supporting the welfare of struggling citizens, was used for corrupt acts by cartels with vested interests," he said. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo also deplored the findings by saying that it was as if the money was poured into a bottomless pit.

The findings are shocking and dumbfounding, given the size and scope of the misappropriation. Typical methods of the irregularities included inflating construction costs and falsifying documents to get loans illegally for projects. Many solar panel operators were also found to have struck contracts with unlicensed companies. Solar panels are banned from being installed on farmlands, so some operators ignored the ban by disguising their farmlands as breeding grounds for mushrooms or insects.

It is regrettable that renewable energy's share of the nation's entire power generation mix edged up by only a small margin ― from 4.8 percent in 2016 to 7.5 percent in 2021. The Moon government also failed to create jobs in the renewable energy sector despite the large project. Only Chinese solar panel makers benefited by selling their products for the project.

The Yoon administration should strive to prevent a recurrence of such irregularities. Increasing renewable energy's share is imperative to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. Therefore it is urgent to pursue energy transition in a transparent and accountable way.

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