A special audit by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs raised concerns that NongHyup Chairman Kang Ho-dong repeatedly exceeded lodging cost limits on overseas business trips and received excessive pay by concurrently serving as chairman of the Nongmin Newspaper company.

In interim audit results released by the ministry on Thursday, Kang exceeded the lodging cap of $250 a day on five overseas trips, spending an additional 40 million won in total. In some trips, he stayed in suite rooms at five-star hotels costing more than 2 million won per night, the audit found.

The ministry said it viewed the spending of public funds above the cap as lacking special justification and is reviewing measures to recover the money.

The ministry also cited possible legal issues because Kang did not disclose details of his use of work-related expenses. It plans to order disclosure of the spending details.

Kang also came under scrutiny over pay. The audit found that, in addition to receiving about 400 million won a year as the non-executive, honorary chairman of NongHyup, he concurrently serves as the full-time chairman of the Nongmin Newspaper company and receives an annual salary of more than 300 million won and a separate retirement payment. The ministry plans to review the appropriateness of holding both positions and receiving double pay, and to pursue institutional improvements.

In additional audits, the ministry plans to further examine allegations of wrongdoing including benefits from holding multiple posts, the execution of incentive payments, and the receiving of money and valuables and improper loans, and will request an investigation if necessary. The scope of the audit will also be expanded to NongHyup Financial Group.