Democratic Party Changwon City Council Members File Complaint Against City Auditor... "Targeting Former Mayor Who Ran in the General Election"

The Democratic Party of Korea's Changwon City Council members in Gyeongnam filed a complaint on the 16th against the Changwon City Auditor for violating the Public Official Election Act.

The council members claimed that the Changwon City Auditor conducted a targeted audit by selectively auditing only the major projects of the former mayor who ran for the 22nd National Assembly election, with the intention of influencing the general election.

“Whenever the auditor publicly announced the audit results, we emphasized that it was a politically motivated targeted audit and demanded its suspension, but the unfair acts aimed at tarnishing the former administration and fostering negative images and public opinion did not change,” they said.

The Democratic Party of Korea's Changwon City Council members in Gyeongnam are holding a press conference in front of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency regarding the accusation against the Changwon City Auditor.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

Regarding the interim announcement of the audit on the Sahwa and Daesang Park private special case projects conducted in November last year, they emphasized, “The timing of the interim audit results announcement was a sensitive period just before Heo Seong-moo, the former mayor, registered as a preliminary candidate for the general election. Announcing audit results that claimed the former administration gave preferential treatment to private businesses at such a time was a deliberate act.”

Former Mayor Heo is currently running as a Democratic Party preliminary candidate for the National Assembly election in Seongsan District, Changwon City.

The council members stated, “The Changwon City Auditor’s Office selectively audited only the projects approved by the former mayor during the 7th local government term, such as the Changwon Cultural Complex Town, Jinhae Ungdong District Development Project, and Masan Marine New City Development Project,” and announced plans to file 2 to 3 additional complaints in the future.

Min Seung-gyu, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and the Changwon City Council in Gyeongnam, is submitting a complaint to the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency.
[Photo by Lee Se-ryeong]

Earlier, the City Auditor’s Office announced that during the audit of large-scale public-private development projects, it was revealed that the responsible department provided benefits by exempting the purchase of public land in the process of promoting the Sahwa and Daesang Park private special case projects, following the former mayor’s policy.

They pointed out that the private development special case projects should be promoted based on the Park and Green Space Act, whereby private developers purchase land and develop it, then donate at least 70% of the total area to the city, but this was not properly carried out.

“It was found that only 68.66% of Sahwa Park land and 54.76% of Daesang Park land were donated, falling short of the 70% standard required by the Park and Green Space Act,” they explained.

Sahwa Park is being developed on a total site area of 1,246,553 square meters with a total project cost of 966.3 billion KRW, and Daesang Park on a total of 957,000.7 square meters with a total project cost of 955.3 billion KRW.

The City Auditor stated, “As a result of exempting the purchase of public land citing concerns over the deterioration of the private developer’s business and smooth project progress, Changwon City has incurred a financial loss amounting to approximately 105.1 billion KRW, including 28.7 billion KRW for Sahwa Park and 76.4 billion KRW for Daesang Park projects.”

They also noted that although it was agreed to attribute some amounts from the increased profits of the private developer, such as public contributions, to the city due to changes in the Sahwa Park project plan, this was not reflected in the amendment agreement.

At the time of signing the project amendment agreement, the return of 10 billion KRW in profits proposed by the private developer was omitted from the agreement, leaving the possibility of a 10 billion KRW financial loss and unnecessary friction with the private developer in the future.

Regarding the claims of targeted audits for election purposes, the City Auditor has rebutted, stating, “These concerns are based on clear violations according to relevant laws such as the Park and Green Space Act and authoritative interpretations from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the competent authority.”

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