Opposition Alleges Government Vouchers Worth 878.77 Million Won Went to Social Cooperative Employing Kim Seung-won’s Family

A social cooperative employing several family members of Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won allegedly received more than 878 million won in government voucher revenue after moving into his constituency in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

The allegation came from the office of Joo Jin-woo, a People Power Party lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee. His office analyzed the settlement reports of the Korea Child Development Social Cooperative and said it generated 878.77 million won in government voucher revenue over four years from 2022 through last year.

The reported annual totals were 70.5 million won in 2022, 237.82 million won in 2023, 279.7 million won in 2024 and 290.75 million won last year. The voucher program is funded through a combination of national, provincial and municipal money, with shares of 70%, 4.5% and 25.5%, respectively.

The cooperative runs treatment and education programs for children with developmental disabilities. Its center director is Kim’s spouse, identified by the source as Park, while his eldest child works there full time and his second daughter works part time. The cooperative was established in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, in 2019 and moved to Suwon’s Jangan District in January 2022. The source says the cooperative paid 308.23 million won in wages to the family from 2022 through this year.