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The results of an investigation by prosecutors and the Board of Audit and Inspection into state-run corporations have been announced. The results showed once again that these corporations are rotten to the core from the perspective of taxpayers and are comfortable, high-paying jobs from the standpoint of those who work there.
The Korea Expressway Corporation loaned between W70 million to W90 million (US$1=W1,007) in interest-free mortgage loans per worker to 1,077 of its employees, amounting to W76.2 billion in loans. Forty employees who already owned a home received the loans as well. The Korea Gas Corporation also provided W700 million in mortgage loans to 12 employees who already owned at least two homes each. One of them owned four homes.
Between 2005 and 2007, Korea Railroad passed out W15.7 billion worth of free rail tickets to employees. Some W6.9 billion worth of those tickets were for use on weekends and holidays, which have nothing to do with work. Many workers passed on the free tickets to family members and relatives. Between 2004 and 2005, the Korea National Oil Corporation erred in forecasting oil prices and sold government oil stockpiles at a low price. That led to a W425 billion loss in the country's oil stockpile funds. As if that was not enough, KNOC utilized W43.3 billion in proceeds from selling oil stockpiles and used that money since 2005 to cover employees' personal pensions, making it appear as if it used that money to boost the morale and welfare of its workers.
Three employees of the Korea Expressway Corporation went on a lavish, three-day trip to Thailand costing W3 million per person, paid for by a business contact. KEC mobilized its employees to answer a customer satisfaction survey that the Planning and Budget Ministry conducted in 2006, gaining top honors in that category. Because of these rotten apples, hard-working taxpayers end up getting milked.
Public corporations have no competitors. Most of them either have a monopoly or controlling stakes in their respective industries. They are guaranteed to rank either first or at least second. Last year, the Korean Association for Public Administration asked 2,755 public workers how hard it was to achieve their goals and 65.8 percent said it was "easy," while only 3.9 percent said it was "difficult." Looking at the results of the investigation and audit, it looks like the main goal of state-run corporations is to make money the easy way. Yet the average annual salary at the Korea Securities Depository is W96.77 million. Over the last three years, the KSD spent W97 million to host luxurious board meetings in locations like golf clubs on Jeju Island and at Yongpyong Resort. Out of 305 state-run corporations and public institutions, 56 percent or 171 of them had average annual salaries surpassing W50 million.
State-run corporations, bureaucrats and politicians make up an "iron triangle" and benefit from each other. State-run corporations follow every command made by bureaucrats and then prepare positions for those bureaucrats when they retire. The ex-bureaucrat who finds a job at a state-run firm then lobbies his former coworkers for favors, who for their part turn a blind eye, expecting to find a job there themselves after they retire. Such firms do favors for politicians, who in turn protect those businesses while pretending to be harsh on them in front of the public. That's why many employees at state-run corporations have close ties to lawmakers or other powerful figures. But the Lee Myung-bak administration, which promised the public to reform these corporations, is busy putting its own people at top posts there.
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