South Korean apartment repair funds face mismanagement

South Korean apartment long-term repair reserve funds, totaling approximately 11.17 trillion won, have faced significant mismanagement. Over the past five years, 3,299 violations and incidents were detected in multi-family housing units.

The most frequent violation was the ‘misuse for purposes other than intended,’ accounting for 833 cases (25.3%), where funds were used to cover general management fees or expenses. Other issues included failure to accumulate required amounts and false accounting.

Of the detected violations, 87.5% resulted only in administrative guidance or correction orders, with only 12.4% leading to fines. Lawmakers are calling for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to establish a permanent public monitoring system to prevent resident losses and corruption, noting that current oversight relies too heavily on post-facto disclosures.