Presidential Office on Moon Government's Data Manipulation: "Deceiving the People... Only Citizens Suffer from Failed Policy Packaging"

Board of Audit and Inspection Releases 'Status of Major National Statistics Compilation and Utilization'
Moon Government Cheongwadae, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Statistics Korea Involved in Related Statistics Manipulation
Over 94 Instances of Unjust Pressure on Real Estate Statistics... Ignored Despite Awareness

The Presidential Office strongly condemned the Board of Audit and Inspection's findings on the 17th that there was manipulation of key statistics, including housing prices, income, and employment, during the Moon Jae-in administration, calling it a "government that deceived the people by manipulating statistics, which are fundamental national policies." In particular, they warned that they would respond strictly to illegal activities, stating, "The failed policies were covered up, and ultimately only the Republic of Korea and its citizens suffered."

On the same day, a Presidential Office official made these remarks regarding the audit results of the "Status of Preparation and Utilization of Major National Statistics," conducted by the Board of Audit and Inspection targeting the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Statistics Korea under the "2022 Annual Audit Plan." The official also explained, "Since the case has been referred to the prosecution, the responsibility will be clarified."

On the 15th, the Board of Audit and Inspection announced audit results revealing that the Blue House under the Moon Jae-in administration and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport pressured Statistics Korea and the Korea Real Estate Board (formerly Korea Appraisal Board) to manipulate statistical figures. This audit was conducted due to ongoing concerns raised by the National Assembly and the media regarding the reliability and accuracy of national statistics, which serve as the basis for national policy formulation. The core issue was that before the housing price trend was publicly announced, the Ministry officials reported the "provisional statistics," which were shared only internally within the Korea Real Estate Board, in advance to the Blue House, and arbitrarily lowered the housing price statistics during the Korea Real Estate Board's housing price trend survey.

These suspicions were revealed in the audit results. The Board of Audit and Inspection confirmed that the Presidential Secretariat (Blue House) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport exerted direct and indirect pressure on the statistical agencies, Statistics Korea and the Korea Real Estate Board, to manipulate statistical figures or distort statistical descriptive information, engaging in various illegal activities.

In fact, over five years since May 2017, the gap between the housing statistics of the Korea Real Estate Board and KB, a representative private real estate statistics institution, widened significantly. During this period, KB assessed the real estate fluctuation rate in the Seoul area as a 62.20% increase, whereas the Korea Real Estate Board calculated it at only 19.46%, less than half of KB's figure. The gap between the two statistics, which was only 0.4 percentage points between 2008 and 2012, expanded to 15.2 percentage points after 2017, a 38-fold increase.

The Board of Audit and Inspection confirmed that the Blue House and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport exerted improper influence as many as 94 times. From June 2017, the Blue House and the Ministry illegally received midweek and preliminary figures from the Korea Real Estate Board in advance and exerted influence by arbitrarily applying weights to the midweek figures to lower the housing price increase rate.

A more serious issue was that the Blue House's Office of Public Service Ethics and Discipline was aware of such external pressure exerted by the Blue House and the Ministry but tolerated it. According to the audit, after investigating the facts, the Office of Public Service Ethics and Discipline only requested that direct contact with the Ministry and the Blue House's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Secretariat be refrained from.

Previously, former Minister Kim Hyun-mi, former Blue House Policy Chief Kim Sang-jo, former Blue House Policy Chief Jang Ha-sung, and former Blue House Policy Chief Kim Soo-hyun were reportedly subjected to face-to-face investigations. Former Statistics Korea Commissioners Hwang Soo-kyung and Kang Shin-wook, former Senior Secretaries Hwang Deok-soon, Hong Jang-pyo, and former First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Yoon Sung-won, among other Blue House aides and ministry officials, were also investigated one after another. A Board of Audit and Inspection official stated, "We plan to finalize the audit results and take measures after the resolution of the Audit Committee as soon as possible."

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