Local council members from A city went on business trips abroad to the Netherlands and Germany last year. The A city council requested travel agencies to inflate airfare from 1,790,000 won per person to 2,290,000 won. Through altered invoices, a total of 7,990,000 won in budget was fraudulently disbursed.
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced on the 16th that, after examining the overseas business trips of council members from 243 local councils nationwide over the past 3 years (from January 2022 to May 2024), they discovered numerous cases of ticket manipulation and travel expense claims. During this period, local council members took 915 trips, spending 35.5 billion won. Including cases where council members accompanied official trips funded by local government budgets (a total of 1,400 instances), the total expenditure reached 40 billion won.
According to the commission, 44.2% (405 cases) of the local council members' trips involved tampered airline tickets, resulting in greater expenditures than actual costs. There were also cases (19.5%) where council members purchased items for personal consumption, such as alcohol, hangover remedies, and supplements during their overseas trips. The B city council spent over 2 million won on ramen and kimchi.
An excessive number of staff were mobilized for local council members' protocol duties, and there were cases (13%) where additional travel expenses were covered by the members. The C city council dispatched 10 council members on a trip, accompanied by 7 staff members. The 9 million won staff expense was covered by the council members. According to the commission, this constitutes a donation activity prohibited by the Public Official Election Act. Additionally, there were instances (8.6%) where council members reviewed their own trips, and cases (3.6%) where entrance fees to tourist spots were paid from the budget.
The commission plans to request investigations from law enforcement agencies concerning illegal activities such as false expense claims. Matters requiring disciplinary action, reimbursement, or fines will be reported to the local governments and councils.
The commission noted that many local council members currently participate in the screening of official overseas business trip review committees, making impartial assessments hard to expect due to relationships with fellow members and consideration of future personal trips. The commission stated, 'We will ensure all committee members are external.' They further emphasized, 'We aim to eliminate inappropriate overseas trips and only allow truly necessary ones.'