野 "No Public Funds for Donghae Gas Field... Oil Field Gate Must Be Revealed"

Criticism of Government Project Promotion Through Written Briefing

The Democratic Party of Korea criticized the East Sea deep-sea gas field development project on the 16th, calling it a "presidential mood-tailored project."

Vitor Abreu, advisor at Act-Geo, a U.S. company responsible for analyzing deep-sea oil and gas deposits in the East Sea, answers questions related to the development of deep-sea gas fields in the East Sea at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy press room in the Government Sejong Complex on the morning of the 7th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Hwang Jeong-a, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, said in a written briefing on the same day, "The government claimed that the figures of 'at least 3.5 billion barrels to a maximum of 14 billion barrels (estimated oil and gas reserves)' presented by Actgeo were verified by an advisory group composed of domestic and international experts, but in reality, the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, a national research institute, reportedly could not even analyze the basic data related to this."

She also asked, "Why was a large-scale project entrusted to a small company like Actgeo, which is almost a one-person business, bypassing even the national research institute?" and emphasized, "Astronomical amounts of taxpayers' money should not be invested without fairness and objectivity." She added, "We will thoroughly investigate the truth of President Yoon's 'oil gate' through a state audit."

Meanwhile, Kim Han-gyu, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, disclosed the minutes of the Korea National Oil Corporation board meeting on the same day. The minutes contained information that the Korea National Oil Corporation resolved to explore and drill the East Sea deep-sea oil field through the board meeting in January, prior to President Yoon's national briefing on oil and gas reserves in the East Sea.

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