Solar Power Permits and Kickbacks... Board of Audit and Inspection Requests Investigation of 38 for Corruption in Moon Government's Renewable Energy Projects

Local Government Heads and Ministry Officials... Board of Audit and Inspection "Audit Ongoing"

On the 13th, the Board of Audit and Inspection announced that it has detected corruption allegations in renewable energy projects such as solar and wind power conducted during the Moon Jae-in administration, and has referred a total of 38 individuals, including related local government heads and ministry officials, to the prosecution for investigation.

The Board of Audit and Inspection inspected renewable energy projects suspected of preferential treatment and corruption from October last year to February this year, discovering cases where public officials colluded with private companies to provide preferential treatment in permits and contracts. Some of them obtained project rights through false documents or received government subsidies improperly.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

First, the Board requested investigations by the prosecution twice for urgent matters, involving 13 individuals including former senior officials of central ministries and local government heads, on charges such as abuse of authority, fraud, and violation of the Subsidy Act. Additionally, 25 representatives and employees of private companies who assisted in corrupt acts were sent as reference subjects for investigation.

Among the disclosed cases of preferential treatment and corruption, collusion between private companies and officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy was confirmed during the permit process for the solar power plant on Anmyeondo Island in Taean-gun, Chungnam Province, which was promoted as the largest private-led domestic solar power complex. The solar development company pursued the construction plan for the Anmyeondo power plant from 2018 to 2019 but attempted to solicit favors from ministry officials during the land use change process. During this process, the official land price of the site rose significantly, and the official later took office as the CEO of the company after retirement.

It was also revealed that when Gunsan City, Jeonbuk Province, promoted a 99 MW solar project in October 2020, preferential treatment was given to a specific company whose CEO was a high school alumnus of the then mayor of Gunsan. The mayor instructed staff to resolve the joint guarantee condition and, facing funding issues, renegotiated a funding agreement with another financial institution offering a higher interest rate, causing substantial interest losses.

Furthermore, a professor affiliated with Jeonbuk National University directly managed a wind power company under his family’s name in 2015 and obtained a power generation project permit by falsifying documents. The Board explained that the professor, who had no intention of starting construction but only to sell the project rights, signed a contract last June to sell to an overseas company at about 64 billion KRW, approximately 600 times the initial investment amount.

The Board of Audit and Inspection stated it will continue auditing renewable energy projects. Although not included in the current investigation request, the Board is reviewing cases where many executives and employees of public institutions related to solar power projects operate solar businesses under their own or family members’ names. Currently, the Board has identified about 250 suspected cases of misconduct across eight related institutions, including KEPCO, and is conducting internal reviews.

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