Jeju City employee accused of embezzling 600 million won from garbage bag sales

Jeju City Mayor Kim Wan-geun, second from left, bows his head during a press conference at City Hall on July 29, apologizing for the embezzlement of funds from the sale of government-issued garbage bags. Courtesy of Jeju City

An employee of Jeju City has been accused of embezzling hundreds of millions of won from the sale of government-issued garbage bags, prompting an official apology from the mayor and a vow by the provincial government to strengthen oversight.

Jeju City said Monday that it has referred a public service worker in his 30s in the sanitation department to the police for investigation.

The worker is suspected of stealing more than 600 million won ($430,000) by pocketing cash collected from designated vendors after delivering volume-based garbage disposal bags.

According to the city, the suspect marked the transactions as canceled in the system while keeping the money. The fraud, believed to have continued for years, came to light only recently when a vendor that had paid in cash asked for a reissued receipt. The transaction showed as canceled in the system, prompting a broader review.

Further inspection revealed multiple similar cases where the bags were delivered, but the payments were never recorded in the city’s accounts.

At a press conference on Monday, Jeju Mayor Kim Wan-geun issued a formal apology. “As the person ultimately responsible for city administration, I sincerely apologize to the citizens. There was a clear failure in our internal monitoring system related to garbage bag sales, and I accept full responsibility for not correcting this sooner,” he said.

“The employee involved was immediately removed from duty upon discovery of the misconduct, and we are working with police to recover the funds and prevent any recurrence.”

Government-issued garbage bags used in Jeju City / Courtesy of Jeju City

In response, the Jeju provincial government announced new countermeasures to block similar incidents. It will ban all cash payments for garbage bags, allowing only card or bank transfers to eliminate the need for city employees to handle cash. Telephone orders will also be phased out in favor of an online order and payment system.

Additionally, the city will require daily inventory logs of incoming and outgoing garbage bags and conduct monthly audits. A rotation system will be introduced for delivery staff, with reassignment every two years to deter long-term misconduct.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.