Controversy Over Allegations of Overlooking 'Illegal Buildings' in Seo-gu, Gwangju

Illegal Building Recognized in Second Half of 2016... 25 Million Won Penalty Imposed

Controversy Over Omission of Penalties in 2017-2018 Despite Biannual Regulation

Suspicion of Collusion... District Office Says "Just a Work Omission, Avoid Excessive Interpretation"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, has come under scrutiny for poor management of illegal buildings.

Despite being aware that the buildings were illegal, the enforcement stopped after only one imposition of a corrective fine, raising suspicions of collusion.

According to Seo-gu on the 8th, the district confirmed the fact after receiving a complaint on February 26, 2016, during the 6th local government term, regarding a building in Chipyeong-dong being an "illegal building."

Subsequently, on June 20 of the same year, the building owner was issued a first corrective order for the illegal building, followed by a second corrective order on August 15. For parts that were not corrected, a notice of enforcement fine for the violation was issued, and 25,655,200 KRW was collected on November 30.

According to the Building Act, for violating buildings, after the first and second corrective orders, a notice and imposition of enforcement fines follow. Enforcement fines are collected twice a year.

However, Seo-gu did not impose enforcement fines four times in total, which should have been twice each in 2017 and 2018 after the first collection, for reasons unknown.

What Seo-gu did was only a first corrective order after a site visit in June 2017 and a second corrective order in July.

The situation was worse in 2018. Since the second corrective order had already been issued the previous year, the subsequent steps should have been the notice and imposition of enforcement fines, even if delayed, but the process reverted to the starting point.

In January 2018, a site visit and first corrective order were conducted, and only in April was the second corrective order notified via official document. However, even then, there was no notice or imposition of enforcement fines.

What is more absurd is that in March of last year, following the building owner's application for retroactive approval of building extension, only 22,946,000 KRW of enforcement fines were collected and accepted, turning the building into a legalized building rather than an illegal one.

Therefore, Seo-gu could not include enforcement fines exceeding 100 million KRW in tax revenue.

Even more outrageous is that the senior officials at grade 6 or higher, who were responsible for administration at the time (authorized to review official documents), consistently denied responsibility and shifted blame.

Their defense is as follows: at that time, management was not done through a computerized program but by individual staff handing over documents, so due to improper handover between staff, an administrative "omission" occurred that should never have happened.

Contrary to the explanation that the omission was due to frequent staff changes, the reporter confirmed that the person who prepared the corrective order document in 2018 was still performing the relevant duties.

In other words, the person in charge knew the building was illegal but only issued corrective orders without imposing enforcement fines, and the supervising officials neglected their duties.

Therefore, it is not a simple mistake or omission but, given the knowledge and failure to act, a "reasonable suspicion" of collusion is also being raised.

Regarding this, a Seo-gu official said, "It was done by a lower-level public servant, so those at the section chief level or above were unaware," and dismissed the collusion suspicion as an excessive interpretation, calling it a simple administrative omission.

Currently, Seo-gu is conducting an audit on the matter and is expected to announce the results soon. Given the low financial independence of the autonomous district, it seems necessary to clarify the facts for securing tax revenue.

Jeon Seung-il, a member of the Seo-gu Council, said, "While chasing after small business owners with illegal buildings to urge corrective orders and impose enforcement fines, not acting on such a large building despite knowing it is a clear problem and amounts to dereliction of duty and neglect," adding, "It is incomprehensible to say it was an omission in handover, and it is true that there is a reasonable suspicion of collusion."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.