The former student council of Pusan National University (PNU)’s College of Economics and International Trade, which completed its term last year, misused profits from an event held for students. This marks the second case following the former student council of the College of Education. The recurrence of such cases is expected to heighten distrust within the student community, and the General Students’ Association (GSA) has stated that it will seek measures to prevent the recurrence. 

Summarizing Channel PNU’s investigation until March 14th, the Central Audit Committee (CAC) of the GSA announced these findings while reporting the results of the 2024 second-half audit during the “2025 first-half Assembly of National Hyowon Representatives” held at Seonghak Hall on March 11th. The CAC reported that the former student councils of the College of Economics and International Trade and the College of Education improperly used the profits from a joint event, a “One-Day Hof,” (with a Hof meaning a Korean-style pub) held on September 11th, 2024, and were ordered to compensate for the misused funds. The allegations of funds misused by the former student council of the College of Education, previously reported by “Channel PNU” on March 7th, 2025, were confirmed.  

According to the audit report presented that day, the two student councils earned 843,428 won and 846,513 won, respectively, from the event. However, the former student council of the College of Economics and International Trade used 801,910 won for a student council gathering, while the former College of Education student council spent 263,610 won for the same purpose and kept 582,903 won in a separate participant fee account. As a result, both were ordered to reimburse the improperly used funds. The two student councils collected 5,000–6,000 won per participant, resulting in net profits of 579,818 won (the case of the College of Economics and International Trade) and 582,903 won, including interest (the case of the College of Education). Additionally, they earned an extra 10% of revenue from food and beverage sales at the event, which amounted to 263,610 won each.  

The report also revealed that neither of them submitted a financial report for the event during the main audit process. The CAC stated, “The College of Education student council did not simply omit the revenue from the event or mark its revenue as zero in the budget report but failed to submit the report altogether.” Upon conducting a re-audit, the committee uncovered their financial misconduct.

During this review process, the former College of Economics and International Trade student council argued that the reimbursement order was unjust, but their objection was not accepted. The former College of Economics and International Trade student council insisted that the One-Day Hof was not an event funded by student fees, and that the proceeds from participation were intended to pay the event staff but used for gathering expenses. They also pointed out that the financial management regulations did not have a provision prohibiting the use of the profits from events for gathering expenses, arguing that traditionally, student council gathering expenses are considered event costs.

However, the CAC rejected their objections regarding the use of gathering expenses, citing the violations of Article 2 of the GSA Financial Management Regulations and the fact that gathering expenses cannot be considered event costs. Article 2 of the GSA Financial Management Regulations stipulates that the financial management of the student council must be directed to promote the benefit of its members, and any profits generated during financial management must be used for the benefit of all members.” In the summary of the audit report, it stated, “It is difficult to conclude that the two gatherings held by the former College of Economics and International Trade student council were for the benefit of all members, and event expenses include only the costs necessary for conducting the event, so gathering expenses are excluded.”

Regarding this matter, the former College of Economics and International Trade student council maintained its stance in an interview on March 13th, stating, “Although we complied with the reimbursement order and submitted a reimbursement completion report on March 2nd due to the absence of the former student council president, we believe there were issues of unfairness and procedures in the audit process. Therefore, institutional improvements are needed to ensure fairness in future audits.”  

The former College of Education student council was also found to have committed fund misuse at the same event. According to the CAC, suspicions arose during the audit of the 38th College of Education student council, “Sasisacheol,” conducted in February. The former student council used more than 30% (263,610 won) of total profits for the executive members’ meal expenses, violating Article 11 of the financial regulations, which states that funds must be managed to benefit all members rather than for the personal or exclusive benefit of the executive body. It confirmed that the former College of Education student council later reimbursed the 263,610 won, and the former College of Education student council president transferred an additional 570,000 won to the student council account belatedly as said by Channel PNU on March 7th, 2025.  

Meanwhile, while the repeated cases have led to growing distrust of the student council within the student community, neither self-reflection on the misuse of financial resources nor discussions on preventive measures were observed at the Assembly of National Hyowon Representatives that day. Auditing the misappropriation of profits remains challenging when student councils manage event profits in separate accounts instead of the student council fee account as it can be seen in the report of “Channel PNU” dated March 7th, 2025. In response, on March 12th, the GSA stated, “If an organization conducts business via alias accounts, it becomes difficult to uncover if they conceal profits or account details,” adding, “If the CAC presents concerns or proposed changes regarding this issue, we will discuss them to proceed with implementation through a revision task force (TF).”

Additionally, out of the 18 audited student councils, 14 were found to have financial management issues, with five—the College of Economics and International Trade, the College of Engineering, the College of Education, the College of Pharmacy, and the College of Natural Sciences—receiving penalty orders. The College of Engineering, the College of Pharmacy, and the College of Natural Sciences were each ordered to reimburse 61,000 won (omitted receipts), 25,000 won (unsubmitted receipts), and 18,000 won (lost receipts), respectively.

Reporter Kim So-Young

Translated by Thadar-Soe