Government Audit in Korea

Abstract

Prior to 1945 the Japanese Board of Audit examined and verified all accounts of the central government including those of the Korean Government General. It may well, therefore, to take a glance at the Japanese Board of Audit. Article 72 of the Meigi Constitution provided: The final accounts of the expenditures and revenues of the State shall be verified and confirmed by the Board of Audit, and they shall be submitted by the Government to the Imperial Diet, together with the report of verification of the said Board. The organization and competency of the board of Audit shall be determined by law separately. In accordance with this provision the board of Audit Law was promulgated in May 1889. Article 1 of this Law in turn provided: "The Board of Audit shall be responsible to the Emperor, and be independent of the Ministers of State." The independence of the Board, however, was not complete. The Board was subject to the exercise of the Cabinet's managerial powers. Civil service rules applied to Board personnel, the budget of the Board was required to be channelled through the Minister of Finence, and regulations relating to the Board were promulgated in the form of imperial ordinances.