The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said on the 7th that Doseonghoe, a nonprofit founded by retirees of Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC), ran its operations loosely and failed to properly file taxes, including paying members birthday celebration money out of highway rest area operation revenue. MOLIT said it will ask the National Tax Service to conduct a tax audit into the group's tax evasion allegations and will refer suspected preferential contracts to police for investigation.
Doseonghoe was established in 1984. The number of members was reported to be about 2,800 as of the end of 2024. In 1986, Doseonghoe founded a company and began operating the Jinyeong Rest Area on the Namhae Expressway toward Suncheon by acquiring it. It currently operates nine rest areas through an invested company.
Earlier, President Lee Jae-myung said during MOLIT's work briefing in Dec. last year, "Why are rest areas so expensive when the food isn't good? It turned out that after going through several steps, half was being skimmed off as rent and fees along the way." Kang Hoon-sik, the presidential chief of staff, added at the senior secretaries' meeting on the 4th, "Doseonghoe has been operating highway rest areas contrary to its founding purpose and distributing excessive revenue," calling it "an act that betrays the duties of a public institution."
That day, MOLIT announced the "audit findings on KEC and the Doseonghoe." According to the findings, Doseonghoe established its subsidiary H&DE, brought it into the highway rest area operation business, and received an annual average of 880 million won in dividends over the past 10 years. It also said 400 million won of that was given to members as "birthday celebration money," among other purposes. MOLIT said Doseonghoe did not report the distributed money as taxable income.
MOLIT also said it found indications that KEC failed to properly oversee the Doseonghoe and granted it special treatment. Last year, KEC pursued a pilot project using a mixed private-investment model for four aging rest facilities, including the Sunsan Rest Area (toward Changwon) on the Jungbu Naeryuk Line in Gumi, North Gyeongsang. The plan let the private sector invest in construction costs to remodel in exchange for operating rights for 15 years. However, it was found that KEC reversed its existing operating principles and additionally granted a gas station operating right by private contract to a Doseonghoe-affiliated corporation.
MOLIT said it will refer to police the suspicions of preferential contracts between KEC and Doseonghoe's subsidiary. It also plans to request a tax audit by the National Tax Service over suspected tax evasion. It further demanded corrective measures, including amending the articles of association.
MOLIT said, "As a follow-up to this audit, we are auditing KEC's management of rest area operators," adding, "We are also conducting a full survey of unfair practices within rest areas, such as nonpayment for supplied goods."