Employees at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power misuse funds for personal expenses

[Anchor]

This case seems to be more severe.

Employees of a public institution have been caught using company funds for personal expenses as if it were pocket money.

They purchased massage devices, nutritional supplements, and smartwatches, claiming they were for work purposes.

Some employees even sold the purchased items on second-hand sites.

This is Lee Yoon-woo reporting.

[Report]

This is the internal audit report from Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.

Over a period of 20 months starting from 2022, nearly 3 billion won was identified as being spent on inappropriate purchases.

The purchase records show over 200 massage devices, smartwatches from famous brands, wireless earphones, and clothing.

More than 200 employees bought these items as "work-related expenses" and were caught.

While it is clear that these items were for personal use, the caught employees uniformly provided absurd explanations such as "for preventing musculoskeletal disorders," "for maintenance materials," and "for e-learning courses."

[Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Official/Voice Altered: "It is a bit difficult for us to accurately verify the budget nature of each individual item, and there are no clear criteria or purchasing guidelines to classify them as private purchases…."]

Some were even caught selling items purchased with company funds on second-hand sites and were punished for embezzlement.

The 3 billion won used for purchases comes from the institution's main budget, including maintenance costs for power plant repairs and research and development expenses, and it has been revealed that items such as hiking boots and hiking clothes were purchased with the research and development funds.

[Park Sang-woong/Member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Resources, and Small and Medium Enterprises Committee/People Power Party: "This incident is no different from a criminal act of misappropriating taxpayer money as if it were pocket money, surpassing the level of moral hazard in public institutions. The biggest problem is that there were no clear standards to prevent indiscriminate budget abuse."]

Due to the lack of clear standards for budget usage, only about 180 million won has been proven to be used for personal purchases and has been reclaimed.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power has stated that there are no plans for additional audits.

This is Lee Yoon-woo from KBS News.