The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has extended the period of a special audit of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, according to reports on the 15th. Earlier, President Lee Jae-myung said during a ministry briefing on the 11th that "NongHyup is a real problem."
The ministry's special audit of NongHyup was initially scheduled to run through the 12th but has reportedly been extended by a week to the 19th.
The ministry launched the special audit of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation over a series of recent allegations of misconduct. During the National Assembly's audit, accusations surfaced one after another over parachute appointments at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, vote-buying in the cooperative head election process, and cases of embezzlement and improper lending at local agricultural and livestock cooperatives.
National Agricultural Cooperative Federation Chair Kang Ho-dong came under police investigation on suspicion of taking a 100 million won bribe, widening the controversy. Police conducted searches and imposed an overseas travel ban on suspicion that Kang received money and valuables twice from the head of a service company that has a transaction relationship with a NongHyup affiliate ahead of the 2023 year-end chair election.
President Lee Jae-myung directly raised the issue of NongHyup during a ministry briefing on the 11th. Lee said, "NongHyup is a real problem. There are many illegalities in the election process, and people are being arrested and investigated—it's a mess," adding, "We must ensure cooperative heads do not have too much authority." He went on, "Where necessary, request investigations and conduct thorough audits."
Meanwhile, the ministry recently opened an anonymous reporting center to receive reports of on-the-job corruption and improper conduct at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and cooperatives. Minister Song Mi-ryung said, "As of last month, more than 100 tips had been received."