Local news reports on Thursday heaped criticism on Seoul’s district councils for being slow to disclose parts of their spending records, upping the political ante against officials apparently using public funds in a nontransparent manner.

Of the 25 district legislatures in Seoul, only the Dobong district council has announced plans to publicize heretofore undisclosed parts of their expenditure records, reports said.

Critics charged that the remaining 24 councils expressed no intention of following suit, despite orders from the central government to strengthen audits on local governments and individual local legislators voicing the need to regain public trust through transparency.

Even the Dobong legislature made its declaration on becoming more financially accountable only when a senior councilor was alleged to have spent some of his legislative commissions on drinking late last year.

Legislative commissions are fees intended to be used for “legislative activities,” such as paying for meals with local corporate representatives or public officials to discuss public construction projects. Local officials have been accused of using the funds to instead drink with corporate officials under the pretense of discussing business deals.

At the relatively affluent Gangnam district legislature in July, a veteran official calling for the need to publicize funds records was apparently rejected by his colleagues.

“I think that records on how legislative commissions were spent should be disclosed at the speaker level for each district council or at least up to the level of vice speaker,” Han Yong-dae of the Saenuri Party said. Han has worked for 30 years on the Gangnam council, according to reports.

“I see no need to do so,” another unnamed councilor reportedly said in response. “That would make our speakers look like people doing nothing but drinking and eating.”

Much of the undisclosed budget for councilors includes individual legislative commissions. The fees for each speaker at one of Seoul’s district councils amount to 3.3 million won ($3,200) monthly. For each vice speaker, the amount can reach 1.1 million won. The Seoul city government spends up to 1.32 billion won on such fees annually.

The sums have opened eyes in the media and the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, leading to increased public attention. The Security Ministry has been especially keen to ensure that Seoul’s district council funds are not used for illicit purposes since the Sewol tragedy, with public anger still high after suspicions arose that bureaucrats had enjoyed cozy relations with private sector officials prior to the accident. Security Ministry officials have apparently ordered mandatory annual audits of district councils.

But the decades-old bureaucratic practice of turning a blind eye toward malpractices by fellow officials is expected to impede transparency efforts.

Each district council in Seoul is supposed to be audited by the district office, and vice versa. The council and district office, however, have traditionally enjoyed cooperative relations, especially with regards to auditing public funds, critics said.

By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)