‘Misadministration by Liberal Gov’ts to End’

Political experts say the misadministration of liberal governments for the past decade will finally end.

The Board of Audit and Inspection has launched its first audit of inter-Korean cooperation funds, and the conservative Grand National Party will also demand scrutiny of money allocated for inter-Korean economic projects.

The party said Wednesday that it will ask for an audit on inter-Korean cooperation funds, as about five trillion won have gone into inter-Korean economic projects since the Kim Dae-jung administration took office in 1998.

In a phone interview, party floor leader Ahn Sang-soo said, “We must thoroughly review whether the money used for inter-Korean cooperation projects was spent to improve the lives of North Koreans. We are also planning to verify if the money went to things irrelevant to inter-Korean cooperation.”

Party lawmaker Eom Ho-sung, a member of the parliamentary committee for finance and economy, also said, “We are also considering requesting an audit on funds linked to inter-Korean economic projects at the committee level. We believe that the operation of those funds, which has been suspected of lacking transparency, should be comprehensively reviewed.”

The party is also considering an investigation into whether inter-Korean cooperation funds were mishandled at the parliamentary level.

After receiving a briefing from the Unification Ministry Monday, the presidential transition committee ordered an evaluation of the transparency of inter-Korean cooperation funds.

Committee spokesman Lee Dong-gwan said, “The funds might have been put under poor management, since the operation of inter-Korean cooperation funds has not been audited for a while.”

In this regard, the Board of Audit and Inspection said it is also monitoring loans for inter-Korean economic projects, and will launch a formal audit if illegal activities are uncovered regardless of the National Assembly’s request.

A bureau official said, “In fact, you can say that we have been auditing all of the funds, including those for economic cooperation and humanitarian aid projects.”

The Grand National Party will also look into financial aid given to civil organizations that sprang up with the help of liberal administrations over the past decade.

The party will assess the severity of “parachute appointments,” since more than 150 politicians have received executive positions at some 100 state-affiliated organizations over the past five years under the Roh administration.

The transition committee is also considering collaborating with academia to draw up a system guiding public television stations, which have been criticized for biased coverage for the past decade, to promote fair reporting.

Political pundits also say probes are likely into the alleged involvement of the National Intelligence Service and the National Tax Service in the presidential election; the arrival of the key figure in the BBK stock fraud scandal ahead of the election; and kickbacks that President Roh is believed to have received after winning the 2002 election.

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