Yeongju Agricultural Cooperative employees stir controversy by donating small amounts to lawmaker Lim Jong-deuk and then handing over a list

It has been confirmed that employees of Yeongju Nonghyup in Gyeongbuk made small political donations to Rep. Lim Jongdeuk of the People Power Party, the lawmaker representing their district, on the same day, and that the list of donors was delivered to his office. The total amount of the donations was 4.97 million won, and it is known that 52 employees each gave up to 100,000 won. Yeongju Nonghyup explained that it had merely handled the donations on behalf of employees' individual voluntary contributions. However, as signs have emerged that donations made in employees' names were collected and processed by the corporation, criticism is being raised that there may be grounds for a violation of the Political Funds Act. Rep. Lim's office stated that it was aware of the Yeongju Nonghyup employees' donations and that the compilation of the list was done at the request of the office. Meanwhile, this case is also being compared with past instances in which political donations within the Nonghyup organization became controversial.