[The Public = Reporter Jo Doo-hee] On the 24th, the NongHyup Reform Committee released a blueprint outlining structural reforms to restore public trust in NongHyup.
The committee convened its fifth meeting at the NongHyup Central Association headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, and formally adopted the \"Recommendations for Reform of NongHyup to Restore Trust Among Farmers and the Public.\" Launched on January 20, the committee met five times over roughly two months to draft the recommendations, and with today's adoption it concluded its official deliberations to identify reform initiatives.
The recommendations are designed to rebuild NongHyup's credibility and reinforce its role as a cooperative. They comprise 13 measures across three areas: reforming the election and personnel systems; strengthening accountable management and internal controls; and revitalizing economic operations while improving transparency in fund management.
First, the committee proposed significant overhauls to election and personnel systems. For the election of the central association president, it recommended introducing candidate debates and holding regional joint campaign events to promote a policy-focused electoral culture.
It recommended requiring incumbent union heads to resign if they run for the central presidency and abolishing the union-head endorsement system to lower entry barriers for ordinary candidates. The recommendations also call for extending the statute of limitations for election-related crimes and strengthening penalties to eliminate illicit election practices.
On personnel policies, the committee proposed tightening post-employment restrictions for executives across the NongHyup system and broadening external nomination channels for members of the personnel recommendation committee to improve fairness in HR operations. The committee specifically recommended that the tightened post-employment restrictions take effect upon adoption of the recommendations.
However, committee members were divided on reforming the method for electing the central president and did not reach a final conclusion.
The committee also identified governance reform to enhance accountability and transparency in NongHyup's management as a priority. It recommended raising the proportion of independent directors to about 30% of the board, granting individual independent directors specific powers—such as the authority to directly place internal-control agenda items—and requiring annual disclosure of their activities.
The committee said that, while NongHyup Central is not a publicly listed company, its scale and influence make greater management transparency necessary, and that introducing independent directors would be a useful step.
It also proposed establishing a NongHyup-wide compliance oversight committee led by external experts to function as a central control tower for ethical management across the organization.
To improve the structure of economic operations and the transparency of fund management, the committee recommended consolidating guidance and support functions currently split between the central association and the economic holding company under the central association. In the short term, it suggested closing regional headquarters and transferring regional guidance and support functions to the central association's regional branches.
The recommendations include measures to benefit both farmers and consumers. They propose digitizing production and distribution facilities at production sites and expanding farm work agency services to lower production costs. They also recommend strengthening online wholesale markets and local food direct-sale outlets to shorten distribution chains and supply fresh agricultural and livestock products to consumers at reasonable prices.
The committee further recommended expanding disclosure of information on the operation of member cooperative support funds and establishing an early performance-evaluation and feedback system to improve transparency in fund management.
Based on the committee's recommendations, NongHyup plans to promptly implement seven tasks that can be put into action immediately, and to work with the government, the National Assembly, and other relevant bodies to develop six tasks that require statutory amendments. It will prepare a task-by-task implementation roadmap and a phased monitoring system for performance by early April.
The committee will complete its reform task identification and continue to oversee implementation of the recommendations through the first half of the year. After the committee concludes its activities, the NongHyup-wide compliance oversight committee will be expected to establish its own supervisory framework.
Committee Chair Lee Kwang-beom said, \"These recommendations outline institutional reforms to help NongHyup become a cooperative that earns the trust of farmers and the public.\" He added, \"If the recommendations are implemented smoothly, we expect NongHyup's management transparency and accountability to be significantly strengthened.\"
