Time to disclose info on 'special activity' expenses
A Seoul court has ordered the presidential office to disclose information on its off-the-record "special activity" expenses, including those spent on secret operations and the first lady's clothes. In its ruling Thursday, the Seoul Administrative Court nullified Cheong Wa Dae's decision in 2018 to keep its special activity expenses off the record and ordered the presidential office to make public most information.
"Given that the government's budget execution is subject to the Board of Audit and Inspection's auditing and the National Assembly's inspection of state administration and that it's more important to ensure the people's right to know about the principles of budget execution, what's earned from non-disclosure is not bigger than what's earned from disclosure," the court said.
The ruling is welcome, considering that it's quite natural to disclose how taxpayer money is spent. In January, the administrative court also ordered the prosecutor general and the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to reveal information on their expenses for special activities. These series of rulings reflect the judiciary's positive attitude toward opening such information to the public and mean a lot by enhancing the transparency of state administration.
Special activity expenses are allotted to such powerful agencies as Cheong Wa Dae to be spent on activities requiring confidentiality, so they can be used in cash without submitting receipts and disclosing where they are spent. The amount of such expenditures was close to 1 trillion won ($833 million) last year alone.
Government agencies argue that the information, if released, could compromise privacy and disrupt the execution of official duties, but the rulings should serve as an occasion for them to disclose how special activity expenses are spent. The latest controversy over the allegedly illicit use of corporate cards involving Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of the ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung, is a clear example of public fund misuse. The time has come to make public information on special activity expenses unrelated to national security and diplomacy.
A Seoul court has ordered the presidential office to disclose information on its off-the-record "special activity" expenses, including those spent on secret operations and the first lady's clothes. In its ruling Thursday, the Seoul Administrative Court nullified Cheong Wa Dae's decision in 2018 to keep its special activity expenses off the record and ordered the presidential office to make public most information.
"Given that the government's budget execution is subject to the Board of Audit and Inspection's auditing and the National Assembly's inspection of state administration and that it's more important to ensure the people's right to know about the principles of budget execution, what's earned from non-disclosure is not bigger than what's earned from disclosure," the court said.
The ruling is welcome, considering that it's quite natural to disclose how taxpayer money is spent. In January, the administrative court also ordered the prosecutor general and the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to reveal information on their expenses for special activities. These series of rulings reflect the judiciary's positive attitude toward opening such information to the public and mean a lot by enhancing the transparency of state administration.
Special activity expenses are allotted to such powerful agencies as Cheong Wa Dae to be spent on activities requiring confidentiality, so they can be used in cash without submitting receipts and disclosing where they are spent. The amount of such expenditures was close to 1 trillion won ($833 million) last year alone.
Government agencies argue that the information, if released, could compromise privacy and disrupt the execution of official duties, but the rulings should serve as an occasion for them to disclose how special activity expenses are spent. The latest controversy over the allegedly illicit use of corporate cards involving Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of the ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung, is a clear example of public fund misuse. The time has come to make public information on special activity expenses unrelated to national security and diplomacy.
