[2022 National Audit] Delivery Special Service Contractor with 'Lee Jae-myung Achievements' Suspected of Being a Paper Company

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Allegations have been raised that a newly established company suspected of being a paper company won a bid worth 900 million KRW last year for photo shooting support services related to Gyeonggi Province's public delivery app 'Baedal Teukgeup.' Baedal Teukgeup was a key achievement promoted by Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, during his tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province.

According to data titled 'Status of Photo Shooting Operation Services for Public Delivery App Food Delivery in Gyeonggi Province' submitted by Gyeonggi Province Corporation to Kim Woong, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the People Power Party, on the 18th, it was found that in two bid announcements for 'Photo Shooting Operation Services for Public Delivery App Franchise Stores' issued by Gyeonggi Province Corporation, there was a company that won the bid despite not meeting the qualifications.

Gyeonggi Province Corporation distributed promotional materials in September last year recruiting support for photo shooting of representative menus of Baedal Teukgeup franchise stores in Suwon City and recruited companies to perform the pilot project service. Company A won the bid and from September last year for about three months, photographed representative menus of 648 franchise stores and received about 227 million KRW in service fees.

Then, in December of the same year, the main project photographing representative menus of franchise stores throughout Gyeonggi Province except Suwon City was carried out, but Company A was not selected, and Company B, a newly established company founded in January of the same year, was selected.

Company B is suspected of being a 'paper company' to the extent that its actual existence is unclear. Company B is registered at a shared office in Gwangmyeong City, Gyeonggi Province, and only a CEO born in 1948 and a company director in their early 20s (born in 2001) are listed on the corporate registry, but even when calling the phone number registered on portals, calls do not connect.

Also, for the pilot project in September targeting only the Suwon area, the task period was three months, but the main project's task period was only 17 days. Considering that performing photo shooting work for franchise stores across the entire Gyeonggi Province would require hiring dozens of freelancers and is difficult to complete in such a short period, there are suspicious aspects. In fact, Company B did not meet the initial photo shooting target and received only 500 million KRW in service fees.

Furthermore, according to reports from companies that participated in the bidding process, although the bidding companies were evaluated through a competitive presentation method, Company B was evaluated by a separate panel of judges in a closed session. Therefore, there are suspicions that Company B, a paper company, was put forward publicly while someone else profited behind the scenes. Representative Kim stated, "Since there are suspicions that an invisible hand influenced the bidding process, thorough investigations by relevant authorities are necessary."

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