Nat'l Assembly revokes license of 'UN-Habitat Korean committee'

This Nov. 13, 2019 file photo shows dignitaries of the Democratic Party of Korea at an event for the launch of the Korean National Committee for U.N.-Habitat, at the National Assembly, Seoul. The organization's license was revoked by the National Assembly Secretariat on Thursday after it was accused of collecting billions of won in donations by using the U.N. title without permission. Newsis

The National Assembly Secretariat revoked the operating license of the Korean National Committee for U.N.-Habitat after it was accused of collecting billions of won in donations by using the U.N. title without permission.

Park Su-hyeon, who served as spokesman for former President Moon Jae-in’s office, was the first chairman of the organization, which allegedly received more than 4.4 billion won ($3.3 million) from private and state-owned companies since its foundation in 2019.

Park denied allegations raised in August by the ruling People Power Party's (PPP) special committee on civic groups, claiming the organization's establishment was approved by the U.N.-Habitat headquarters.

But this was a lie, according to Rep. Ha Tae-keung, head of the PPP committee, citing officials at the U.N. Habitat headquarters.

“The U.N.-Habitat headquarters said it has neither signed any agreement nor planned to sign one in the future. Moreover, it has repeatedly asked the Korean committee to stop using its logo for which it did not give authorization,” he wrote in a statement on social media.

After finding out that there was no official partnership agreement between the two parties, Assembly officials told the organization to sign one and provide evidence. Its failure to do so led to the cancellation of its registration.

“Through various TV programs and interviews, Park claimed that the Korean committee is a U.N. agency. By purporting to be one, it collected 4.4 billion won from companies. It was an apparent fraud,” Ha said.

Ruling party lawmakers vowed to get to the bottom of the matter through a thorough probe and warned that the organization should return all the money to donors.