From Favoritism in Work Allocation to Hiring Corruption... ICC Jeju's 'Comprehensive Corruption Set'

Jeju Provincial Audit Committee Reports 34 Findings and Issues 26 Disposition Requests

Specific Company Secures Over 5 Private Contracts Annually... Earns Hundreds of Millions

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Chang-won] Various allegations such as preferential treatment of orders and improper personnel appointments at Jeju International Convention Center (hereinafter ICC Jeju) have been confirmed as true.

The Jeju Provincial Audit Committee announced on the 16th that, as a result of conducting a comprehensive audit of ICC Jeju from December 21 last year to January 4 this year, a total of 34 points of concern and 26 audit result disposition requests were notified.

Reviewing the details of ICC Jeju's private contracts since 2017 revealed that orders were concentrated to specific companies.

These six companies signed private contracts more than five times annually, gaining unfair profits worth approximately 770 million KRW, and among them, the representatives of three companies were confirmed to be relatives.

Among the 28 projects carried out between 2017 and 2020, companies were selected without issuing a notice requesting written estimates, and some projects over 50 million KRW, which require general competitive bidding, were conducted through single-estimate private contracts.

Unfair budget execution was also pointed out. A total of 37 cases amounting to about 3 million KRW were spent on condolence money and other expenses that did not comply with regulations for official business expenses. Some corporate card payments were made during late-night and midnight hours, leading to system improvements and cautionary measures.

During audits of the 'International Conference and Exhibition Agency Business Contracts' in 2016 and 2019, 563 audit documents worth 7.9 billion KRW were omitted, and a warning to the institution was also requested.

Issues with improper hiring processes were also detected. Notably, in March last year, three applicants were denied interview opportunities solely because their residence was not in Jeju Province during the temporary staff recruitment process.

Additionally, two other candidates were given scores again after the interviews were completed and were accepted. Furthermore, recruitment-related evaluation sheets and result documents, which must be kept for at least five years, were not retained.

Separately, the police and the Board of Audit and Inspection are investigating various allegations including contract and hiring corruption, rebates to subcontractors, and workplace harassment.

Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Chang-won baekok@asiae.co.kr

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