Problems with local government collaboration, worsening management of executing agencies, etc… Illegal use of research funds: 2.2 billion won
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Ki-chang = It was found that research and development (R&D) projects in the land, land and transportation field, for which nearly 40 billion won in contributions were invested, had their support stopped or were judged to be research failures due to management difficulties of the executing organizations.
According to data submitted by People Power Party Rep. Kim Mi-ae, a member of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee of the National Assembly, from the Korea Land, Infrastructure and Transport Science and Technology Promotion Agency on the 10th, among the land and transportation research and development projects managed by the Agency from 2021 to the end of August this year, support was discontinued for three cases and one case was judged to be a research failure.
The contribution allocated to these projects was 59.225 billion won, of which 65.2% (38.597 billion won) was invested as actual research and development expenses.
The 'Commercialization of eco-friendly transportation system technology for mountaineering' project, for which 22.379 billion won of the 28.075 billion won contribution was invested, failed to pass the small-scale environmental impact assessment of Namwon City, Jeollabuk-do, the local government in charge of the demonstration, and the pilot project agreement was abolished, and support was discontinued after a special evaluation.
KRW 21.361 billion was invested in the 'Development of Next-Generation Interpersonal Security Search Technology' project, and with KRW 13.611 billion invested, the research was judged to be a failure as the results of the stage evaluation showed that the performance was not achieved.
After 2.375 billion won of the 9.438 billion won in contributions for the project 'Development and verification of an infrastructure model for the expansion of urban hydrogen mobility using surplus power in the city', support was discontinued due to non-payment of contributions by Busan City, the demonstration local government.
232 million won was invested in the 'Development of an AI-based RC module platform and nudge-type energy saving service for optimizing apartment energy management', for which 351 million won was invested, but support was decided to be discontinued due to the deteriorating management of the implementing agency.
The commercialization and field application results of completed projects were also insufficient.
Of the 444 projects completed from 2021 to 2025, 21.4% (95) had zero technology transfer, sales, and on-site verification results for one to three years after completion.
The scale of illegal use of research services and development expenses reached 2.188 billion won from 2022 to August of this year, of which 1.118 billion won has not yet been recovered. Enforcement proceedings, including seizure of deposits, are in progress against two institutions that have not returned fraudulently used research funds.
Rep. Kim Mi-ae said, “There is a need to inspect the entire research and development management system, from project planning to dissemination of results and recovery of unjust execution amounts,” and added, “For demonstration projects that require collaboration with local governments, we must consider whether the demonstration conditions, such as local expenses and permits, have been sufficiently reviewed during the task selection and agreement process.”
