Jeonbuk Province Conducts Special Audit on Corporate Activity Complaints... 115 Cases Detected

Administrative Measures Including Regulatory and Legal Improvements

Refund of 179 Million Won to Startup Companies

Six Officials Disciplined for Corporate Civil Complaints

Jeonbuk Province (Governor Kim Kwan-young) conducted a focused inspection on unnecessary regulations in corporate management and violations in the processing of permits and approvals, and announced the audit results.

According to the Provincial Audit Office on the 3rd, as a result of the "Special Audit on Support for Corporate Activities and Civil Complaint Handling," 115 administrative actions such as regulatory improvements were taken, 179 million KRW was refunded to startup companies, and six public officials related to improper handling of corporate complaints were reprimanded.

Jeollabuk-do Provincial Government Office building.

This audit focused on unnecessary regulations related to companies, permit and approval complaint handling, and the appropriateness of corporate financial support. From March 30 to May 19, over 31 days, audits were conducted at the provincial headquarters, 14 cities and counties, and seven affiliated institutions including the Bio Convergence Industry Promotion Agency, Jeonbuk Technopark, Automotive Convergence Technology Institute, ECO Convergence Textile Research Institute, Economic and Trade Promotion Agency, Credit Guarantee Foundation, and Content Convergence Promotion Agency.

The audit results confirmed violations such as negligence in exemption of burden charges and improper handling of corporate complaints across three key areas: regulatory improvement, complaint handling, and financial support, resulting in a total of 115 administrative measures to be implemented.

Accordingly, notifications were issued to refund a total of 179 million KRW in burden charges imposed on startup companies, and six public officials who improperly handled corporate-related complaints will be subject to disciplinary reprimands.

In regulatory improvements related to companies, 14 cities and counties operated the Architectural Committee review target as the entire area without narrowing or designating it differently from higher laws. Five cities and counties failed to reflect 11 facilities, including detached houses exempt from urban planning review under the "Enforcement Decree of the National Land Planning Act," in their ordinances. Additionally, although delegated to set reinvestment ratios of sales profits and development gains by ordinance, six cities and counties did not incorporate related content into their ordinances.

County A denied building permits for two companies despite meeting the building permit requirements due to residents' complaints, and 13 cities and counties delayed processing 209 complaints by up to 95 days beyond the legal processing deadline.

Notably, although 14 cities and counties are required to promptly enter departmental consultation opinions into the Seumter system during building permit processing, five cities and counties showed extremely low input rates of consultation opinions at 2-7% compared to total permits, causing complainants and designers to lose opportunities to respond quickly to permit processing procedures, resulting in prolonged building permit processing periods. The Seumter system is a system established by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport with an investment of approximately 33 billion KRW to improve building permit procedures.

Regarding exemption of corporate-related burden charges, three cities and counties failed to facilitate smooth consultation between the building department and the startup factory department, causing five startup companies to be initially charged about 100 million KRW in burden charges and refunded up to 294 days later after business plan approval, imposing unnecessary burdens on companies.

Jeonbuk Province notified the Korea Electric Power Corporation, the agency imposing the Electric Power Industry Infrastructure Fund burden charge, to refund 25 million KRW already imposed on companies in 14 cities and counties, and instructed to strengthen consultations with related departments to establish measures for startup and small companies to effectively receive prior exemption from burden charges.

Regarding corporate financial support, Institution B had outstanding loan conditions for startup support funds (interest rate 1.6%) compared to other regions, anticipating a surge in demand and requiring proactive pre-measures such as flexible fund allocation. However, it was found that the institution handled the process hastily by not adhering to the 10-day application period stated in the announcement and closing applications just two hours after opening.

Kim Jin-chul, Provincial Auditor, said, "I hope the results of this audit serve as a practical example that helps corporate activities and act as a catalyst for making Jeonbuk a better place for businesses," adding, "We plan to actively utilize the audit techniques accumulated through this special audit in other audits to realize a business-friendly Jeonbuk Province."

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