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| ▲ Rep. Ha Tae-keung (R) is seen speaking in a meeting of the ruling People Power Party's special committee for civic group reform at the National Assembly in Seoul, on Aug. 16, 2023. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) PPP-UN-Habitat
(LEAD) PPP accuses local organization of collecting donations by purporting to be UN-Habitat committee
(ATTN: ADDS statement from Korean organization in last 5 paras)
By Kang Jae-eun
SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- The ruling People Power Party (PPP) claimed Wednesday that a local non-profit organization collected billions of won in donations over the last few years by purporting to be the South Korean national committee of the U.N. Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
Rep. Ha Tae-keung, who heads the PPP's special committee on civic groups, said the organization had collected 44 billion won (US$32.9 million) in donations since its foundation in 2019, even though it has nothing to do with the U.N. agency.
Ha said even former President Moon Jae-in was deceived into believing that it was a U.N. organization, and sent a congratulatory message when it was launched with Park Soo-hyun, who served as a senior secretary to Moon, as its first chief.
"The organization in question has no relations with UN-Habitat, which is a U.N. agency," Ha said during a committee meeting. "But in the course of collecting donations, it publicized itself as affiliated with UN-Habitat and used UN-Habitat's logo without permission."
The Korean organization's official homepage introduces itself as a non-profit organization registered with South Korea's National Assembly Secretariat through "close cooperation and a detailed preparation process with UN-Habitat."
However, Ha argued UN-Habitat has no individual commissions representing any particular nation outside of its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, unlike the U.N. International Children's Emergency Fund, which stations independent commissions in around 20 different countries.
He also shared an official letter sent by the UN-Habitat headquarters to the land ministry.
In the letter, UN-Habitat said it "does not endorse nor approve any civil society organization or non-governmental organization to represent UN-Habitat or undertake activities in countries on the Organization's behalf." It also requested the Korean non-profit organization to "immediately cease and desist" from using the logo of UN-Habitat and the U.N. without permission.
Ha said the organization has "seriously defamed the nation's dignity" by using the U.N. organization's logo without permission, and called for the cancellation of its establishment and a return of all donations collected.
Later in the day, the group released a statement on its website refuting the allegations.
"The Korean committee of the UN-Habitat is an independent national committee that does not require permission or approval from the UN-Habitat for its establishment or operation... it is based on a horizontal cooperative relationship with the UN-Habitat, which enables the planning of various activities in collaboration," the statement read.
It also denied claims of using the U.N. agency's logo without permission and issued a warning of stern legal action against those who create or spread false information about the issue.
The organization argued it had entered into individual agreements to use the logo and name for each activity carried out since 2019.
It has been engaged in talks with the U.N. agency over the past two years to consolidate the agreements into a single comprehensive one, but progress had been delayed due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the group added.
(END)
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