Jeong Gyuheon, Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly Member: "All the money was paid, but where are the 13,262 education office terminals?"

Jeong Gyuheon, Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly Member. [Image source=Office of Assembly Member Jeong Gyuheon]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] “The payment was made before the devices were fully delivered.”

The smart device distribution project, one of Superintendent Park Jong-hoon's major pledges in Gyeongnam education, has once again become embroiled in controversy.

On the 3rd, Jeong Gyu-heon, a member of the Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly, stated during the 400th regular session of the Provincial Assembly’s education office administrative audit that there were signs of advance payment for the devices.

He said that as of September, the status of device deliveries by the company did not match the distribution status of devices to frontline schools, yet the payment had already been completed.

Reviewing the education office’s data, Assemblyman Jeong claimed, “As of August 31, the entire budget of 157.5 billion KRW for the smart device distribution project was spent, and 291,124 devices were delivered, but some were not distributed.”

He continued, “As of September, out of the 291,124 devices, 13,262 units had no OS installed and were not distributed to frontline schools, but are reportedly being stored by the education office.”

Assemblyman Jeong said he visited the consortium contractor’s workshop, the storage location for the undistributed smart devices as disclosed by the education office, and visually confirmed the devices.

He added, “The company said the devices stacked in the workshop were not for distribution to schools but were for after-sales service and exchanges. Then where are the 13,262 smart devices that the education office claims to be storing?”

Assemblyman Jeong pointed out, “The education office must clarify the whereabouts of the stored devices. Isn’t this situation itself incomprehensible, where payment was made in advance even though the devices had not been inspected and delivered?”

According to the education office, 291,124 smart devices were delivered in three rounds between February and August 2022, with a total delivery amount of 15.746 billion KRW.

As of September 30, all tablets have been distributed, and the devices being stored by the education office without distribution are 13,262 laptops.

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