“KOICA Mongolia business ministries overlap”… Non-settlement of down payment of 10 billion won was also pointed out.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Seong Do-hyeon = In addition to the issue of overlap between ministries in the Mongolian Official Development Assistance (ODA) project of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it has been pointed out that advance payments of 10 billion won paid to companies executing ODA projects in each country have not been settled for a long time.

Kim Jun-hwan, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out the issue of overlap in the 'Agricultural Production Capacity Strengthening Project (2026-2031) through the establishment of a sustainable four-season greenhouse in Ulaanbaatar City' (2026-2031), which KOICA is carrying out in Mongolia with a total investment of 18 billion won in a comprehensive audit of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the National Assembly.

Rep. Kim argued that it is similar to the 'Smart Agricultural Complex Development and Greenhouse Vegetable Supply Project' (2024-2028), which is already in progress by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Rural Community Corporation with a total of 6 billion won, and that prior cooperation between ministries is poor.

Rep. Kim explained, “KOICA said it confirmed the Korea Rural Community Corporation project during a preliminary investigation in November 2024,” and added, “The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs responded that it first learned of the KOICA project only when the ‘4th Comprehensive Basic Plan for International Development Cooperation’ (2026-2030) was shared in February 2026.”

At the same time, regarding KOICA's explanation that it had held discussions with the Rural Community Corporation in December 2024, he pointed out that the explanations of the two organizations are different, saying, "When we checked with the Rural Community Corporation, what was discussed at the time was a meeting related to the 'large animal veterinary care project', not the greenhouse project."

Rep. Kim also mentioned the explanatory materials submitted by KOICA when concerns were raised about similarity and overlap between the two projects at the 'Council of Grant Aid Related Agencies' in May 2025.

At the time, KOICA explained that "there is a high possibility that the Rural Development Corporation project will be promoted in Darhang due to the relocation of the Mongolian Ministry of Agriculture to the province," but the Rural Community Corporation pointed out an error in the facts based on the fact that the target site had already been confirmed as Ulaanbaatar on January 31, 2025, three months ago.

Rep. Kim asked for a clear position from KOICA, saying, “Efficiency can be increased if we promote it in cooperation with specialized ministries, so why did we pursue it without even consulting with them?”

In response, KOICA Acting Chairman Kim Dong-ho responded, "KOICA's business was in Ulaanbaatar, and the Ministry of Agriculture's business was in another region. We consider business overlap to be an important factor, so we are actively trying to adjust it."

They also announced that they will thoroughly discuss and coordinate between agencies in the future. Although KOICA itself does not have the authority to coordinate, it plans to build a close cooperation system centered on diplomatic missions abroad.

Representative Kim also pointed out the standards for advance payment execution and settlement management of KOICA ODA project funds. Unsettled advance payment refers to a state in which the budget received in advance by the project executing agency is left as a balance without being settled after verifying where it was actually spent.

According to KOICA's ODA service contract advance status from January 2021 to August 2026, there were 15 service contracts in which more than 70% of the payment amount remained unsettled even though more than six months had passed since the advance payment was made.

Of the approximately 13.69 billion won in advance paid for these contracts, 10.87 billion won, or 79.4%, appeared as an unsettled balance.

About 2.3 billion won was paid in advance for the 'Ethiopia National Quality Control Project' in November 2025, but 93% (about 2.1 billion won) remained unsettled even after 7 months, and for the 'Iraq Heart Disease Children's Hospital Project', 88% (about 200 million won) remained as an unsettled balance even 33 months after the advance payment.

Representative Kim also explained that there were four contracts in which additional advance payments were made with more than 70% of the existing advance payment remaining (existing unsettled amount of 1.99 billion won, additional payment of 2.51 billion won).

Rep. Kim pointed out the excessive advance payment structure, citing the 'Government Bidding and Contract Execution Standards', saying, "If carryover is inevitable because it is difficult to execute the entire budget within the year, an advance payment must be made within the limit of the amount that can actually be executed."

In addition, it was pointed out that while the executing company enjoys financial benefits from long-term unexecuted advance payments, KOICA has insufficient management standards to recheck or recover the refund.

Acting Director Kim responded, "In the past, we used to base payments on the total amount, but we are now paying based on an appropriate ratio of the budget for the year. We will actively monitor the settlement of advance payments and strengthen our efforts to ensure that accounting settlements are made in a timely manner."

He also added, “When the amount paid is returned, the interest portion is also recovered.”