Repeated 'Private Contracts' Favoritism in Goheung-gun

No Change Even After More Than Two Years of the 7th Elected Term...

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Goheung County in Jeonnam is failing to improve and is repeating the controversial issue of preferential treatment through private contracts during the 6th local government administration.

The transition committee of Goheung County Mayor Song Gwigeun, elected in the June 13, 2018 local elections for the 7th local government administration, announced, "About 100 private contracts were carried out over five days from June 18 to 22 after the local elections." This immediately sparked criticism that these were reward-based private contracts by the previous mayor.

In addition, the transition committee warned, "It is customary not to process personnel and project contracts after a new mayor is elected, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's guidelines advise consulting with the mayor-elect."

At the time, Mayor Song Gwigeun stated, "This incident clearly shows why Goheung County needs reform," and added, "We will boldly implement the will of the citizens who chose change without forgetting it."

However, even after more than two years into the 7th local government administration, no change has been seen, and the bad practices that need reform continue to be repeated. Arbitrary private contracts without clear standards have been excessively issued, leading to criticism that the very subject of reform has become the perpetrator.

According to Goheung County and the local construction industry on the 5th, small-scale construction private contracts issued by the county this year have been concentrated among certain specific companies out of 206 local firms.

Looking at the construction private contract status on the county’s official website contract information system, out of a total of 918 cases over the past seven months, four companies?Company A with 41 cases, Company B with 40 cases, Company C with 32 cases, and Company D with 30 cases?signed a total of 143 private contracts.

In particular, it was revealed that one specific company signed as many as 41 private contracts worth over 500 million won from January to July. Meanwhile, many local specialized construction companies did not secure even a single private contract during the past seven months.

K (47), who operates a specialized construction business locally, expressed frustration, saying, "In other regions, private contracts are distributed evenly among local construction companies as a custom to revitalize the local economy, but only Goheung County is concluding contracts in such a concentrated, preferential manner."

Regarding this, local resident Y (55), familiar with the local situation, said, "Since local government heads are politicians, it seems that work is concentrated on companies that appeared favorable during elections," and added, "The method of lining up companies through private contracts by the local government head has not been corrected even in the 7th local government administration."

The person responsible for all contract work, including private contracts in Goheung County, is the head of the finance department. On June 26, the county promoted and appointed the secretary to Mayor Song Gwigeun as acting head of the finance department.

In this regard, a county official told Asia Economy during an interview, "We thought private contracts were being handled fairly," and explained, "The selection of private contract companies is beyond the authority of the staff."

A Goheung County resident pointed out, "The repeated bad practice of private contracts is causing budget waste, corruption, and conflicts in the local community," and emphasized, "Goheung County needs efforts to increase transparency not only in selecting the budget scale for project areas but also in selecting project companies."

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