[Local Power for 30 Years ] The City and City Council Manipulated by the Daejangdong Team

Suspicions of Comprehensive Lobbying to Seongnam City Council Chairperson and Members During Private Developer's Development Process
Illegal Activities Such as Corruption and Misconduct in Local Governments and Councils Rarely Eradicated

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The ‘Daejang-dong development preferential treatment and lobbying suspicion’ initially arose from allegations that enormous excess profits went to the private sector, but it has now expanded into the ‘Daejang-dong Gate’ with various lobbying and preferential treatment suspicions emerging from the selection of the project site, the development process, and profit distribution among participants. This involves the city, the city council, and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, a public institution under the city. The city, which should be responsible for the project, and the city council, which should check and monitor it, showed insufficient roles, and some were found to be involved in the suspicions. The local autonomy system marked its 30th anniversary since the revival of local councils in 1991. Local power centered on local government heads and local councils has brought many positive effects. However, corruption, bribery, and illegal acts by some local heads and council members have not been eradicated.

Yoo Dong-gyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, who was recently arrested, is suspected of removing the excess profit recovery clause during the 2014-2015 Daejang-dong development project, allowing private businesses to gain thousands of billions of won in profits and causing equivalent losses to Seongnam City. Since Seongnam Urban Development Corporation is an institution under Seongnam City, there are suspicions that Yoo could not have pushed this unilaterally, leading to connections with Lee Ji-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province. However, both Seongnam City and Lee’s side deny any involvement or collusion with Yoo.

However, there are allegations that Seongnam City Council members received bribes from Hwacheon Daeyu. According to a recording submitted to the prosecution by accountant Jung Young-hak, Hwacheon Daeyu’s largest shareholder Kim Man-bae and others spent 35 billion won on lobbying politicians, legal professionals, and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, reportedly giving 3 billion won to the then chairman of Seongnam City Council and 2 billion won to council members.

Choi Yoon-gil, former chairman of Seongnam City Council from 2012 to 2014, submitted and passed the ordinance to establish Seongnam Urban Development Corporation in the plenary session in February 2013, and it was revealed that he is currently working as an executive at Hwacheon Daeyu. Although prospective residents of Daejang-dong submitted a petition last September demanding infrastructure improvements and checks on excessive private profits, which was adopted by the city council, no significant follow-up measures have been taken for over a year. Despite the escalating situation, the current responses from Seongnam City and the city council remain passive. Eun Soo-mi, the current mayor of Seongnam, has not issued any statements or city-level improvement plans regarding this incident. There are growing calls in the region holding the current mayor responsible.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the city council meeting held on the 12th, the ‘Daejang-dong preferential treatment suspicion administrative investigation’ proposed by the opposition party was blocked by the ruling Democratic Party, which holds the majority. Fifteen opposition council members, including 13 from the People Power Party, 1 from the Minsheng Party, and 1 from the Awake Citizens Solidarity Party, voted in favor, but 19 Democratic Party members opposed it. Opposition members argued, "Because the excess profit recovery clause was removed, private businesses gained thousands of billions of won in unfair profits from the Daejang-dong development," and insisted, "A thorough administrative investigation must be conducted starting from the establishment process of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, which was the starting point of the project."

On the other hand, ruling party members said, "Since investigations by the prosecution and police are ongoing and Seongnam City and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation are taking legal and administrative measures, an administrative audit is unnecessary." Due to this, calls for forced investigations such as raids on Seongnam City and the city council are growing louder. The butterfly effect caused by Daejang-dong is spreading to local governments nationwide. Local civic groups are raising suspicions of corruption and development irregularities in local government projects conducted with a similar structure to Daejang-dong.

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