gov't subsidies-transparency
S. Korea to bolster transparency in gov't-supported projects
SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's finance ministry said Tuesday it plans to have civic groups' projects receiving state funds of 100 million won (US$778,000) or more receive external audits to improve their transparency.
The revision, passed by the Cabinet earlier in the day, marks a sharp drop from the previous threshold of 300 million won, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The move followed an audit of about 12,000 civil organizations given government subsidies over the past three years, which found a total of 1,865 cases of irregularities involving about 31.4 billion won.
In 2022, a total of 9,079 projects were granted state funds valued at 300 million won or more, while the number of projects receiving 100 million won or more reached 40,411.
"We are committed to enhancing transparency to eliminate fraudulent receipt of government subsidies by persistently identifying and addressing systemic loopholes. We will take robust measures to combat fraudulent accounting," an official from the ministry said.
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