Serious moral hazard among employees of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) has come to light. Reports indicate that some employees conducted business for family companies during work hours, posted sponsored content on blogs, and earned substantial side incomes through multi-level marketing and translation work.
According to a disciplinary report submitted by Representative Heo Jong-sik of the Democratic Party on September 13, multiple employees from both agencies were found to have violated dual employment regulations and pursued personal interests during work hours, resulting in disciplinary actions such as termination and suspension.
The NHIS disciplinary records reveal serious cases of employees abusing their authority for personal gain, causing financial harm to the agency.
One employee, a level 4 manager, was found to have remotely managed business operations for a family-owned company during work hours from September 2023 to July 2025. Additionally, this employee exploited their knowledge of insurance-related duties to falsely register ineligible family members as workplace subscribers, leading to financial losses for the NHIS. Due to the severity and intentionality of the misconduct, the NHIS terminated this employee on February 24, 2026.
Another employee, a level 5 staff member, was discovered to have received sponsorships worth 2,077,700 won (approximately $1,800) for 65 promotional posts from October 2022 to December 2025. Notably, 10 of these posts were made during work or business trip hours, resulting in a three-month salary reduction for violating the ban on commercial activities and the duty of diligence.
Additionally, another employee engaged in promotional activities for five skincare companies without prior approval for dual employment from December 2022 to December 2025. This employee also exposed NHIS-related information and personal data of colleagues on their personal YouTube channel for 15 months, leading to a one-month suspension.
At HIRA, a large-scale dual employment issue was uncovered during a regular audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection in the first half of 2024.
One employee had been involved with a multi-level marketing company for over ten years, purchasing approximately 200,000 won worth of products monthly to maintain a specific rank (director) within the company. In return, this employee received about 700,000 won weekly in sponsorship fees, accumulating external income of 153,335,000 won (approximately $130,000) from 2019 to 2022. However, disciplinary action was not taken until December 2024.
Furthermore, the Board of Audit and Inspection identified violations of dual employment regulations among 14 HIRA employees based on external income data from the National Tax Service, leading to disciplinary actions in May 2025. One employee earned a total of 106,266,649 won (approximately $90,000) through German translation work for 21 institutions.
Serious cases also included one employee who dispensed medications at external care facilities 84 times, earning 13,580,000 won (approximately $11,500).
Other forms of commercial activities among HIRA employees included participation in writing papers, grading assignments, supervising exams, and delivering packages.
Representative Heo Jong-sik stated, "It is a serious breach of public service discipline for employees in public institutions, who should serve the public, to manage family businesses, post promotional content on blogs, and engage in multi-level marketing. The use of work hours and job knowledge for personal gain must be strictly managed." He added, "We need to thoroughly check dual employment approvals and commercial activities during work hours to rectify the management system for public service."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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