South Korea's ruling party and the government decided to establish a National Agricultural Cooperative Federation audit committee, tentatively named, to eradicate wrongdoing within the organisation. They are also reviewing measures to sharply strengthen punishment for vote buying.

The Democratic Party and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced the reform plan at a party-government meeting held at the National Assembly on March 11.

The party and the government decided to set up an audit committee to perform an integrated, group-wide audit function across Nonghyup. The plan would separate audit functions currently housed within the central federation for the central body, member cooperatives and the holding company into a separate special corporation. The audit committee is expected to have 7 members, including a chair.

They also decided to require the appointment of outside experts when selecting compliance officers and to establish grounds to suspend the duties of employees convicted on charges such as taking money or goods and embezzlement.

They are also reviewing expanding the ministry's guidance and supervisory authority, which is currently limited to the central federation and member cooperatives, to the holding company and subsidiaries. They plan to revise related rules so the ministry can issue cautions and warnings to institutions such as the central federation and member cooperatives.

The party and the government are also pushing institutional improvements to increase transparency in Nonghyup's operations. They plan to specify in regulations principles that would prevent the federation chairman and others from exerting undue influence over the holding company and subsidiaries, blocking interference in personnel and management.

They also plan to establish a principle banning the federation chairman and others from concurrently holding other duties and posts, including chair of the Farmers' Newspaper. They also plan measures to strengthen information disclosure to cooperative members on overall operations including funding and personnel, improve the objectivity and fairness of the personnel recommendation committee, and mandate the establishment and prior reporting of member-cooperative support fund plans that take financial soundness into account.

They will also push to overhaul the election system for the Nonghyup federation chairman. They plan to reform the system in a way that expands cooperative members' participation in selecting the chairman and reduces incentives for vote buying.

They decided to analyse the pros and cons of alternatives including direct election by members and an electoral college system. They will also review measures to prevent vote buying, including improving campaign methods such as introducing debates, raising criminal penalties and administrative fines for vote-buying crimes, and reducing penalties and expanding rewards for reporting for those other than self-reporters who cooperate with investigations.

They plan to complete these legislative tasks before the June 3 local elections.

Han Jeong-ae (한정애), the party's policymaking chief, said, "We will swiftly prepare bills related to Nonghyup reform and closely support the implementation of the reform plan."