“Korea National Oil Corporation uncovers embezzlement and kickbacks at Kazakhstan subsidiary, issues public apology”, 30 January 2026

The Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) on Thursday (30 January) issued a public apology in the name of Acting President Choi Moon-kyu over cases of embezzlement and illegal fund transactions amounting to several hundred million won at its local subsidiary in Kazakhstan.

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KNOC said that an internal audit conducted between September and November last year revealed that the Kazakhstan subsidiary had created illegal funds totalling approximately US$370,000 (around 530 million won).

An employee at the subsidiary embezzled corporate funds worth 159 million won. After becoming aware of the misconduct, the official in charge of general affairs failed to report the case to headquarters and instead attempted to cover it up internally. The official promised preferential treatment — such as discounts on petroleum product sales prices — to a local business partner and received US$100,000 in kickbacks.

After obtaining intelligence that Kazakh authorities could impose administrative fines amounting to several billion won, the same method was reportedly used to obtain a further US$270,000 from business partners. The funds were allegedly passed on to an individual believed to be associated with the Kazakh government in an effort to suppress the issue.

KNOC said it plans to take disciplinary action against employees involved in the creation of slush funds and failures in internal controls, and to file complaints with investigative authorities to determine whether additional misconduct occurred.

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The Acting President added that the corporation would “fundamentally re-establish management systems across the organisation”, stressing that it would “strengthen internal controls and ethical standards across all operations, including overseas projects, and put systems and organisational culture in place to ensure that such incidents never happen again”.