'USKI presented no proper records'
Robert Gallucci, chairman of U.S.-Korea Institute. / Yonhap
By Choi Ha-young
The Korean government decided to cut funding for the U.S.-Korea Institute (USKI) because it neglected a bipartisan request from the National Assembly to provide proper records on how it has used funds from Korea, National Assembly sources said Thursday.
The USKI, affiliated with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), was not the only U.S. institute that received such a request from Korea. For example, the Korea Economic Institute (KEI), also based in Washington, D.C., was also a beneficiary of funds the Korean government has provided to U.S. think tanks through the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP).
The KEI, however, provided proper data on its use of funds, so it had no trouble with the National Assembly, unlike the USKI, the sources said. The sources doubted the USKI’s claims that the Korean government pressured it to change its leadership.
“The root cause of the problems was the institute’s lax accounting,” a source said. “This is not related to dissonance between Washington and Seoul or meddling in academic freedom. The institute should have provided proper spending records, but it did not.”
The source continued, “The USKI claims the fund was part of a donation, but it was Korean taxpayers’ money. If the National Assembly refused to look into the USKI’s account, it would be a dereliction of duty.
“These days, even donations in the form of official development assistance are obliged to prove documentary evidence. The government is not a charity.”
A senior secretary in the Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee claimed the government needs to tighten its grip on the fund by installing a liaison in Washington. The Japanese government is doing so, he said. Even if it could ensure better transparency, this may arouse further controversy about “intervention on academic freedom.”
Since 2014, the Assembly has taken issue with the USKI’s lack of transparency. After years of discussions in the Assembly’s National Policy Committee, it adopted a comment in a budget report in, November 2017.
The comment reads, “To enhance the management of the USKI, the KIEP should draw up plans to carry out a reshuffle and strengthen its transparency by March 2018. After judging the achievement, the Assembly will decide whether it will keep funding the organization in September 2018.”
Such comments couldn’t be included without mutual bipartisan consent. During the meeting, no conservative lawmakers opposed the comment.
The committee is now chaired by conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) lawmaker Kim Yong-tae. Formerly, Rep. Lee Jin-bok of the LKP chaired the committee. During the 19th Assembly from 2012 to 2016, Reps. Chung Woo-taik and Kim Jung-hoon of the Saenuri Party — precursor to the LKP — chaired the committee.
There have been some doubts about why the KIEP cut off funding in April, rather than waiting until September. The secretary explained it shows the obstinate position of the KIEP.
“The KIEP has figured out it was impossible to improve the transparency of the USKI in the face of protests of the think tank’s leadership. This means the KIEP will be grilled by lawmakers in September 2018, if it decides to keep funding the USKI,” the secretary said.
Another senior secretary, who has long been involved in the Assembly’s National Policy Committee, said aides even suspected USKI officials were doing some intelligence activities because of its poor accounting.
“Since the KIEP kept bringing up lax accounts of the USKI’s 2 billion won ($1.87 million), I asked the KIEP vice chief whether the USKI is related to the National Intelligence Service. In an off-the-record meeting, I told him the Assembly could have a closed-door audit if that’s true, but he kept mum,” he said.
According to law, the spy agency’s special activity funds are exempt from the Assembly’s budget and accounting.
“If the USKI had difficulties in revealing its accounting, the think tank should have explained the reason before receiving the funds,” he said.
He also refuted the rumor about a rift in the U.S.-ROK alliance due to the conflict. “If the government provided 2 billion won annually to a China-based think tank, conservatives would criticize the government for submitting to Beijing,” he said. “If they politicize the issue, it will never get resolved.”
Meanwhile, a ranking USKI official did not respond to The Korea Time’s email for counter-arguments about the problems.