'Robot Land Case Losing 166.2 Billion Won of Taxpayer Money, 1 of 9 Accused Transferred'

The investigation into the Gyeongnam Masan Robot Land incident, which resulted in a loss of approximately 160 billion KRW in public funds due to 'poor project management,' has concluded after one year.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency announced on the 10th that, following the investigation of nine accused individuals, foundation employee Mr. A was sent to prosecution without detention on the charge of obstruction of official duties by deception on the 2nd.

The other eight individuals were cleared of charges due to insufficient evidence.

Gyeongnam Masan Robot Land.

The so-called Robot Land incident occurred when one plot of land promised to a private business operator was not provided on time.

The private business operator attempted to repay 5 billion KRW of the principal loan of 95 billion KRW by selling pension land, but a default situation arose because one of the 14 pension plots was not transferred. The operator notified the administration of the termination of the implementation agreement and filed a lawsuit in February 2020 claiming payment upon termination.

The province argued that the obligation to supply was not violated, that the implementation agreement and loan contract were separate agreements, and about the calculation method for payment upon termination, but the private business operator won in the appellate court as well.

Gyeongnam Province, seeing no merit in further appeal, paid the private business operator 166.2 billion KRW, which included the private investment cost, payment upon termination, operating expenses, and interest.

Subsequently, in April last year, audits were conducted on Changwon City and the Robot Land Foundation, pointing out that the implementation agreement, which was changed to favor the private business operator, was the cause of the incident.

The revised agreement included provisions such as ▲ a fixed payment of 100 billion KRW upon termination based on the completion date ▲ a guaranteed payment of 100 billion KRW upon termination within one year from the start of operation even if the private business operator was at fault ▲ mandatory termination of the agreement if the private business operator abandoned the project, which hampered administrative actions.

It was criticized that supervision over the work procedures and processes of the Robot Land Foundation and other invested and contributed institutions was inadequate, many unfavorable clauses for the administration were added due to the agreement changes, and the administration failed to properly respond to the demand for the transfer of pension land.

Bae Jong-gweol, Chairman of the Gyeongnam Provincial Audit Committee, is announcing the final audit results regarding the promotion process of the Robot Land development project.
[Photo by Lee Se-ryeong]

Following the audit results, Gyeongnam Province imposed severe disciplinary actions on 34 related personnel from the province, the foundation, and Changwon City, and reported five current and former foundation executives and four private company officials to the police on charges of breach of duty and obstruction of official duties by deception.

The police judged that it was difficult to view these individuals as having committed breach of duty to provide special favors to the private business operator for financial gain.

However, foundation employee Mr. A was found to have submitted documents related to project completion without properly preparing the content and format in order to advance the completion date.

A police official stated, “There were nine accused individuals, many witnesses, and extensive reference materials, so the investigation took a long time. Although this was a major case involving the waste of a large budget and we devoted full efforts to the investigation, it was difficult to prove the accused individuals’ breach of duty.”

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