South Korea’s Court Administration Bought 26 Billion Won in Computers, Leaving 6,000 in Storage

South Korea’s court administration spent 26.04 billion won on computers after buying 24,664 machines to replace 12,663 outdated units, leaving 6,131 new computers unused in storage.

The administration centrally purchases computers, printers and scanners for distribution to courts and affiliated institutions. The Board of Audit and Inspection said its demand estimates lacked a sound basis and that no clear standard existed for calculating reserve equipment.

In one example, the Seongnam branch of Suwon District Court already held 111 computers as spares when the administration supplied another 151 last year. Printers were also purchased above projected demand between 2023 and 2025, partly to use up budget allocations. By the end of last year, 2,938 printers remained in reserve.

Auditors separately identified problems in the administration’s use of official operating expenses. It bought wine worth 108.92 million won from 2022 through 2025 without properly recording the purpose, recipients, date or location of the spending. Purchases made after 11 p.m., on weekends and on public holidays totaled 99.5 million won. About 16.25 million won was spent at bars, without the required explanation process.

The administration also failed to provide the affiliation and name of recipients for purchases exceeding 500,000 won per transaction. Of 69 wine purchases made during the period, supporting records were missing for 57 transactions worth about 104.68 million won.