“₩12.2 Billion in Payments at One Vegetable Shop”… ‘Onnuri Voucher Cash-Out’ Allegations

1. Overview

In 2025, a vegetable shop measuring just 4–5 pyeong (about 13–17 m²) in a traditional market cooperative in Gwangju processed ₩12.2 billion in onnuri gift certificates (government-issued vouchers), prompting suspicions that the so-called “Onnuri cash-out” scheme—illegally converting vouchers into cash—may have taken place. The allegation was raised by Kim Won-i, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ parliamentary audit on October 7, 2026.

Onnuri gift certificates are sold by the government at a discount to support traditional markets. Because of that discount, someone who buys the certificates cheaply and converts them at face value through a participating merchant without any actual exchange of goods can pocket the difference as profit. This practice is known as “cash-out.” The allegation has drawn suspicion that the scheme may follow the same pattern as large-scale cases uncovered in the past, given that a single small vegetable shop accounted for the fourth-highest payment volume nationwide. However, the matter remains an allegation, and no investigation findings have been released.

2. Details of the allegations

At the parliamentary audit, Kim said, “Last year, a 4–5-pyeong vegetable shop in Cooperative A’s traditional market processed ₩12.2 billion in onnuri gift certificate payments, the fourth-highest amount nationwide.” He added that a nationally famous bakery in Daejeon had processed ₩6.6 billion in onnuri gift certificate payments during the first half of this year, and said the figure was “not reasonable.” According to him, the cooperative’s revenue rose from ₩500 million in 2023 to ₩11 billion in 2024 and ₩12.8 billion in 2025—an increase of more than 20-fold in just two years.

A member of Kim’s office went to the cooperative and bought vegetables in person. However, the receipt bore the name of a different company, “○○ Distribution,” rather than the cooperative’s. This prompted allegations that a business other than the registered cooperative was operating at the shop. After Kim’s office informed the Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS), SEMAS reportedly said it had received a response from the cooperative’s head stating that the company had been granted the right to operate with the cooperative’s consent.

3. Evidence and gaps in the system

Kim said that although he had asked the cooperative to provide documents proving that the transactions had actually taken place, it had not produced records for the ₩12.2 billion, and SEMAS had also been unable to disclose transaction details. He called the matter “clearly illegal transactions that undermine the purpose of onnuri gift certificates” and raised the possibility of tax evasion.

Gaps in the system were also cited as a concern. According to Kim, transactions conducted outside a merchant’s designated service area had been legal until they were prohibited on June 17, 2026. As a result, there had been no way to prevent activity that took place before that date. Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young responded, “Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” and said, “We will conduct a thorough investigation, not only internally but also with the cooperation of the National Tax Service and relevant agencies, and report back before the comprehensive audit.”

4. Previous cases of Onnuri cash-out

The current allegations have attracted attention because a similar scheme has surfaced before. At the 2024 parliamentary audit, it was revealed that three garlic shops at Paldal New Market in Daegu had exchanged a total of ₩121.5 billion in onnuri gift certificates over the course of a year. The appropriate amount, calculated using the voucher discount rate, was about ₩6.7 billion. A separate case in Daegu also came to light in which market merchants and voucher dealers bought ₩130 billion worth of vouchers without exchanging goods or services, then disguised the transactions as legitimate and misappropriated about ₩6.2 billion in government subsidies.

However, recovery of the money after the schemes were uncovered has been slow. An investigation into improper circulation in the second half of 2024 identified 117 cases. Those merchants had exchanged a total of ₩291.7 billion that year, but recovery was ordered from just 11 of them, including the three garlic shops, for a total of ₩4.04 billion. Even then, as of August 2026, only ₩533 million (13.19%) had actually been paid. In December 2025, the government announced measures to restrict or revoke merchant registrations when their voucher exchange totals exceeded certain thresholds, explicitly define improper circulation in law, and strengthen penalties.

5. Authenticity debate

The central question is whether the ₩12.2 billion processed by the small vegetable shop represented actual sales of goods or sham transactions intended to convert vouchers into cash.

5.1. The view that this was Onnuri cash-out

The circumstances point toward suspicion. The shop’s annual payment total was nearly twice the ₩6.6 billion processed in half a year by one of the country’s best-known bakeries, and the cooperative’s revenue rose more than 20-fold in two years. The receipts bore the name of an unrelated company, and no supporting documents for the ₩12.2 billion have been produced. Collecting large quantities of discounted vouchers and cashing them out at a single participating merchant follows the same pattern as the Daegu garlic shop case. Given statistics showing that 37% of payments went to the top 1% of participating merchants, can this really be explained as ordinary vegetable sales?

5.2. The view that it is too early to draw conclusions

However, what has emerged so far consists only of information presented by a lawmaker at a parliamentary audit and an on-site visit. Neither the cooperative nor the company has been reported to have offered an explanation, and investigations by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the National Tax Service have only just begun. Whether the cooperative’s granting another company the right to operate was itself illegal under the rules in force at the time, and whether actual goods were sold—for example, through bulk deliveries—must be established through an investigation. Kim himself said that transactions outside the designated area were legal until June 2026, so the large payment total alone is not enough to conclude that a crime occurred.

6. Trivia

• Money Today reported that Kim Won-i focused on improper circulation of onnuri gift certificates at this year’s parliamentary audit, as he had at last year’s audit.
• At the same audit, lawmaker Jang Cheol-min said that only 13% of the funds from improper circulation cases uncovered in 2024 had been recovered, and argued that “illicit gains must be tracked down and recovered in full.”