'Onuri' gift vouchers increasingly spent at pharmacies — W230b in 8 months

Half of the top 10 Onuri gift voucher-spending stores are outlets dealing in pharmaceuticals and related products, a new analysis shows. From January through August this year, more than 230 billion won ($169 million) in Onuri vouchers was spent at 3,291 pharmacy-related stores. The data also revealed a heavy concentration of spending: the top 5% of stores by transaction volume accounted for 60% of all voucher payments. Recovery of funds from past fraud cases has been sluggish as well — while the government ordered 4.04 billion won clawed back for 2024 fraud violations, only 533 million won had actually been paid as of August this year.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups submitted Onuri gift voucher usage data to the office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jang Cheol-min on Wednesday. An analysis of the data, which grouped stores handling pharmaceuticals and related products into a separate category, found that 3,291 such stores recorded Onuri voucher transactions from January through August — just 1.6% of all participating stores. Yet those outlets accounted for 232.9 billion won in voucher spending, or 7.0% of the total 3.34 trillion won in Onuri transactions during the period — a payment share more than four times their share of store count.

Pharmaceutical outlets were especially prominent at the very top of the spending rankings. When the ministry's store-by-store data were reclassified by product category, five of the top 10 stores by voucher spending turned out to be pharmaceutical outlets. The top-ranked store — a pharmaceutical outlet in the Boryeong Pharmacy Alley in Jongno-gu, Seoul — recorded 35.5 billion won in Onuri voucher transactions from January through August. The second-ranked store, a pharmaceutical outlet inside Gwangjang Market in Jongno-gu, Seoul, recorded 14.4 billion won. Pharmaceutical outlets also ranked fifth, sixth and eighth.

The five pharmaceutical outlets among the top 10 combined for roughly 72.5 billion won in voucher spending. Although pharmaceutical stores in the rankings were spread across several areas — including Jongno-gu in Seoul, Namdaemun Market and Gwangju — they appeared repeatedly near the top of the list, showing a higher concentration of spending than other business categories. The No. 1 and No. 2 stores by Onuri voucher spending are a pharmacy and a medical clinic, respectively, both widely known online as go-to destinations for the obesity drug Mounjaro.

The two top-ranked stores recorded Onuri voucher payments of 26 billion won and 10.2 billion won, respectively, in the first half of this year. In just July and August, the No. 1 store added another 9.5 billion won in transactions and the No. 2 store added 4.2 billion won. Both have gained a following online as places where consumers can buy the obesity treatment Mounjaro at relatively low prices.

Analysts say consumers are drawn to using Onuri vouchers — which can be purchased at a discount — for high-priced pharmaceuticals because the savings feel more substantial on a large single purchase than on everyday small transactions.

The concentration of spending among a small number of stores also raises questions about whether the voucher program is meeting its original goal of revitalizing traditional markets and supporting small merchants. The top 5% of stores — 10,231 outlets — accounted for 2 trillion won, or 60.0% of all Onuri voucher spending during the period.

Even narrowing the focus to the top 1% — just 2,047 stores — those outlets recorded 1.2 trillion won in voucher payments, or 36.0% of the total. More than one-third of all Onuri voucher spending was concentrated in just one out of every 100 participating stores.

Authorities flagged 182 cases of fraudulent Onuri voucher distribution in 2024. The stores involved recorded 327.4 billion won in Onuri voucher sales during the relevant period. Of that, the government ordered 4.04 billion won recovered. However, only 533 million won — 13.2% of the ordered amount — had been paid as of August this year, leaving 3.51 billion won still outstanding.

Criminal proceedings are also under way in a number of cases. Twenty-two stores were referred for prosecution in connection with the 2024 violations. Of those, four have received final rulings: one was sentenced to prison and three received suspended sentences. One case is still in trial, seven are at the prosecution referral or investigation stage, and the remaining 10 were cleared of charges.

The 2024 Onuri voucher fraud problem came to wide public attention during that year's national audit. The top three stores by Onuri voucher sales were registered as vegetable vendors inside Daegu's Paldal New Market, and their listed operators turned out to be family members — a mother, a son and a father. Two of the three were found to be shell companies not actually operating at their registered addresses.

The government launched a large-scale inspection in response. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups conducted two rounds of on-site checks at 449 high-volume stores, confirming violations at 134 of them. Inspectors also uncovered stores suspected of bulk-buying vouchers for illicit cash exchange, as well as so-called ghost stores set up solely for that purpose.

Reports of fraudulent distribution have continued to come in by the hundreds this year. The number of fraud reports received and processed was 647 in 2024, 493 in 2025 and 399 through August this year. As of August, five cases this year have resulted in confirmed penalties, with the stores involved recording combined related sales of 276 million won.

Concentration is also evident on the purchasing side, with a small number of corporations buying up large volumes of paper Onuri vouchers. The single largest corporate buyer of paper Onuri vouchers from January through August this year purchased 31 billion won worth — 15.4% of the 200.8 billion won in paper vouchers bought by all corporations combined during the period. The second-largest corporate buyer purchased 16 billion won worth, followed by 6.7 billion won for third place, 5.4 billion won for fourth and 3.43 billion won for fifth. The top 10 corporate buyers together purchased 74.01 billion won worth, accounting for 36.9% of total corporate paper voucher purchases.

Large-scale purchases by single corporations are not new. The top corporate buyer in 2024 purchased 39.7 billion won worth of paper Onuri vouchers, and the top buyer in 2025 purchased 49.1 billion won worth. It has not been confirmed, however, whether the top-ranked corporation was the same entity across years. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups declined to submit identifying information about the corporations to the National Assembly, saying corporate purchase volumes constitute confidential business information.

The financial outlet selling the most paper Onuri vouchers was Woori Bank's Yangjae Central Financial Center. NH NongHyup Bank's aT Center ranked second, followed by Saemaul Geumgo Yeongdeungpo Dangsan, Busanjin Credit Union, Daegu Daedong Credit Union, Daegu Daeseo Credit Union, Saemaul Geumgo Daejeon Jungbu, Namyangju Credit Union, Samsung Electronics Saemaul Geumgo and Daemyeong Credit Union.

Unlike individual purchases, corporate purchases of Onuri vouchers are not subject to a cap, allowing a single entity to buy hundreds of billions of won worth. Observers say this makes it necessary to scrutinize the purchasing intentions of a small number of corporations and trace how the vouchers actually flow through the market.