(EDITORIAL from The Korea Herald on Oct. 16)

Nothing but fraud
The government subsidizes farmers who cultivate rice to make up for their losses resulting from the opening of the domestic market to imports.

But it has been
found that senior government officials and others living on non-farming income
have applied for or have been taking rice subsidies.
As for the floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party put it, it would
constitute fraud if an unqualified person took subsidies. As such, justice must
be done to those who have breached the law concerning the provision of rice
subsidies.
The issue came to the fore when it was disclosed that the husband of the vice
minister of health, welfare and family affairs applied for the subsidy and later
withdrew his application. She has since been under pressure to resign. The vice
minister says her husband did nothing wrong because he intended to cultivate his
rice paddy this year instead of leasing it to a farmer as he did in the 2005-07
period.
Another suspicion she needs to clear is the claim that, in violation of the law
on resident registration back in 1986, her family falsely registered as residents
of a county where the family wanted to buy farmland. After the purchases, the
family reinstated their Seoul residency. She would have to resign should she fail
to prove her family did not breach the law in the process.
Separately from the vice minister's case, the Board of Audit and Inspection is
accused of covering up fraudulent rice subsidy payments. The state watchdog,
which discovered illegal subsidy payments to government officials and executives
of state-owned corporations in 2006, somehow chose not to take action against
them. It owes the public an explanation.
The government will have to conduct a sweeping investigation into rice subsidies,
which amounted to a little less than 1 trillion won (US$800 million) last year,
and take back all the illegal payments.
(END)