Auditors chide Foreign Ministry for flawed overseas aid program

The state auditors on Thursday called on Seoul’s Foreign Ministry to improve the flawed management of its aid to developing countries after wrapping up their recent inspection of the ministry and its overseas missions.

The Board of Audit and Inspection especially pointed out that there were no specific rules or guidelines in the planning, internal review and management of the official development assistance, which has made it difficult for the ministry to use it more effectively and strategically.

According to government data, Seoul’s ODA increased by 5.4 percent last year to total $1.85 billion. The growth rate was the highest among the member nations of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.

Despite Seoul’s growing ODA contribution, it has yet to implement a systematic program to carry out its ODA projects ― a reason why it has inefficiently distributed ODA to multiple international organizations in small amounts instead of strategically supporting specific countries, the auditors noted.

“The concerned ministry had the fund managed by several divisions in charge of international organizations, without rules or guidelines on an ODA strategy or plan,” the BAI statement reads, urging the Foreign Ministry to establish clear guidelines for the ODA implementation.

During the inspection, the BAI also found the Foreign Ministry ignored a related law when using the ODA funds. In May 2013, the Foreign Ministry pledged to offer $10 million to the World Bank without necessary consultations with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, which is in charge of overseas financial contributions.

The auditors also said the Foreign Ministry spent $500,000 to launch the South Korea-Mekong cooperation fund in 2013 without complying with proper accounting protocols. Other irregularities, which were found during the inspection, included the ministry’s failure to check overseas missions’ irregular accounting.

The auditors also found that 13 professors at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy under the Foreign Ministry earned nearly 300 million won ($275,500) combined at other schools between January 2011 and October 2014 without the needed approval from the foreign minister.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)