KFI staff exceeded lodging and meal limits on Toronto conference trip
Review committee cleared all items before departure despite rule violations
Rep. Chae Hyeon-il calls for overhaul of overseas travel screening system
The Korea Fire Institute spent more than 30 million won ($22,100) on an overseas business trip that included lodging and meal expenses above the permitted limits — and a sightseeing excursion, an audit has found.
A five-member review committee had cleared every aspect of the trip, including costs, before departure, yet none of the violations were flagged at the time. A subsequent audit by the National Fire Agency uncovered a string of improper expenditures, raising questions about whether the institute's internal controls are functioning in any meaningful way.
According to documents submitted to the office of Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Chae Hyeon-il, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, the Korea Fire Institute sent two employees on a five-night, seven-day trip to Toronto, Canada, last year to attend the 2025 World Congress of Auditors. The stated purpose was to acquire the latest auditing techniques and build a network with internal auditors worldwide.
Before the trip, the institute convened a five-member overseas travel review committee in May last year to assess the plan. The committee examined the trip's purpose and necessity, the destination and host organization, the itinerary, the participants, and the appropriateness of the travel budget — including whether expenses were calculated and paid in accordance with travel allowance rules. The committee approved every item.
A subsequent special audit by the National Fire Agency found, however, that the committee had reviewed the travel costs only superficially, even though the expenses had been set in violation of the travel allowance rules. A routine pre-departure audit that should have been conducted was also skipped.
Total expenditure on the trip came to 31.31 million won. Of that, 30.61 million won — covering a conference registration and administrative fee of 5.63 million won and airfare and ground expenses of 24.98 million won — was charged to the education and training budget. The audit found this was improper: because attendance at the World Congress of Auditors constituted a business trip rather than an educational dispatch, airfare, accommodation and meals should have been drawn from the overseas travel budget, not the education and training budget, with only the registration fee exempt from that requirement.
One of the two travelers flew business class at a cost of 9.87 million won; the other flew economy at 3.54 million won. Ground expenses paid to both travelers totaled 11.56 million won, a figure that improperly included personal beverage costs and fees for a guide and tour leader that should not have been charged to public funds.
Lodging and meal costs also exceeded the permitted limits. The audit found that accommodation for one person came to 3.34 million won, which was 1.13 million won above the ceiling, while meal expenses of 930,000 won exceeded the limit by 230,000 won. When miscellaneous personal and shared expenses and travel agency fees were added, the overpayment per person came to 2.38 million won. The National Fire Agency ordered both travelers to return the excess, recovering a total of 4.75 million won.
The itinerary also drew scrutiny. The World Congress of Auditors ran for three days, from July 14 to July 16 last year, but the institute scheduled its employees for a five-night, seven-day trip from July 12 to July 18. On July 13, the day before the conference opened, the two employees visited Niagara Falls near Toronto. After the official program ended, they also visited an outlet mall, the audit found.
The National Fire Agency deemed the Niagara Falls visit and the post-conference outlet trip "inappropriate conduct inconsistent with the purpose of an official overseas business trip." The employees who took part in the unofficial activities received a caution, while the department responsible for calculating the trip duration and conducting the pre-departure review received a departmental warning.
Rep. Chae said the matter could not be considered resolved simply because the excess travel allowances had been recovered. "The National Fire Agency must determine why the overseas travel review and routine audit were not properly carried out, and conduct a comprehensive review of budget execution and the travel screening system across its affiliated agencies," he said.
thanks@heraldcorp.com
