Foundation Chief Uses Official Vehicle for Commute, Offers 'Absurd Excuse'

[Anchor]

An investigation by SBS has confirmed that the board chairperson of a foundation affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs used an official business vehicle for personal commuting. When questioned about whether this violated regulations, the chief offered an absurd explanation, claiming that "the regulations should be changed."

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has this exclusive report.

[Reporter]

At a foundation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with around 20 employees,

a single luxury sedan is operated as a shared vehicle for official business.

This vehicle is supposed to be used by executives and employees strictly for business purposes during working hours. However, vehicle logs obtained by SBS are packed with inappropriate entries.

In several entries, the purpose of use was brazenly recorded as "commute," documenting trips to and from the apartment where Board Chairperson A lives. In other instances, the purpose was listed as "external meeting," but the vehicle actually traveled to and from Chief A's home during commuting hours.

The vehicle was effectively treated as the chief's private official car. Yet the foundation's "Guidelines for the Management and Operation of Business Vehicles" stipulate that "vehicles may be used only during working hours" and "may only be used by executives and staff to conduct official duties, with personal use strictly prohibited."

With no regulation permitting the vehicle to be used for the chief's commute, SBS approached Chief A to ask for the justification.

[Board Chairperson A: "I don't think this goes against customary practice or social norms. Heads of other institutions all do it, so why can't I, no matter how small our organization may be?"]

When pressed again on whether this violated regulations, A made absurd arguments, claiming that "the regulations should be changed" and calling the inquiry "persecution of a small agency."

[Board Chairperson A: "They should be talking about changing the regulations. Saying that the board chairperson did something wrong is a form of persecution against small organizations like ours."]

Furthermore, the foundation hired a separate designated driver to operate the vehicle, spending 32.27 million won on driving service fees last year.

The problem is that this expense was paid out of the foundation's "general operating expenses."

Government guidelines strictly specify that general operating expenses may only be used for designated purposes, such as purchasing consumable goods or attending committee meetings.

[Kim Jun-hwan / Member of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee (Democratic Party of Korea): "This is a case of recklessly spending taxpayers' money for personal convenience, which is why I believe it cannot be forgiven."]

According to the vehicle log, it appears to have been used for commuting since at least 2021. In response, the foundation stated, "We will revise our guidelines regarding the operation of dedicated vehicles to establish specific and detailed standards."

(Video by Kang Dong-cheol and Choi Dae-woong | Video edited by Jeon Min-gyu | Graphics by Jaegal Chan and Lee Jun-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.