Board of Audit and Inspection: "Yoon's Residence Golf Practice Facility Illegally Built, Disguised as 'Guard Post Construction'"

Presidential Security Service began construction and made payments without approval
Unregistered and unreported for three years and two months
Suspicions of turnkey subcontracting and cost transfer

The Board of Audit and Inspection announced that, during the relocation of the presidential residence under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, the Presidential Security Service installed a "presidential-use" golf practice facility within the residence without obtaining approval from relevant agencies. The Security Service disguised the construction documents as "guard post construction" to prevent the information from being disclosed externally, and processed and approved them accordingly. The Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out that, as of the date of publication, three years and two months after the facility was completed, it remained unreported for building registration, unregistered as state property, and without real estate registration.

The Board of Audit and Inspection disclosed the results of the audit on the 'Presidential Residence Relocation,' conducted on the 29th at the request of the National Assembly. Yonhap News

On January 29, the Board of Audit and Inspection released the results of the audit on the "Presidential Residence Relocation," conducted at the request of the National Assembly. The National Assembly requested an audit on six issues (22 key points), including the selection of contractors, the formulation and execution of the construction budget, responsibility for construction supervision, suspicions of illegal new construction or extensions within the residence, the appropriateness of private contracts, and suspicions of preferential treatment for the pavilion construction company within the residence.

The Presidential Security Service initiated the construction of the golf practice facility within the residence at the end of May 2022, and in early June, added remodeling of the main gate guard post and installation of a security checkpoint. On July 7, 2022, these three projects were bundled under the title "Security Facility and Guard Post Construction" and contracted for 140 million won. After completion and settlement procedures, 135 million won was paid on August 12 of the same year. Of this amount, 104 million won was specified as payment for the golf practice facility construction.

The audit found that the leadership of the Security Service at the time was aware the facility was for presidential use, and that construction began on June 13, 2022, before the contract was signed and without going through required procedures such as obtaining land use approval from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Internally, the Security Service emphasized security and deliberately wrote and approved the project name as a guard post and the content as a waiting facility for staff, contrary to the facts, making it impossible to know about the installation from the documents alone.

In particular, the Board of Audit and Inspection identified the deliberate misrepresentation of the project name and content for security reasons within the Security Service as a key illegal and improper act. The Board explained that the person in charge at the time wrote the project name as "guard post construction" and described the content as a "waiting facility for staff" to maintain security even if the documents were exposed, and that the supervisor approved the documents despite knowing they were inaccurate. As a result, "it became impossible for the National Assembly and external agencies to know about the installation of the golf practice facility based solely on the documents," according to the Board's assessment.

Concerns Over Lump-Sum Subcontracting and Cost Shifting

The Board of Audit and Inspection also pointed out that the primary contractor entered into a lump-sum subcontract for 127 million won with a highly rated registered company that did not actually participate in the construction, and did not notify the client of the subcontract details or other required entries in the construction project register for more than three years and two months after completion. Furthermore, the primary contractor required the subcontractor to pay not only its own construction costs but also the primary contractor's share, resulting in the subcontractor paying a total of 317,548,000 won to three companies and incurring a loss of 190 million won.

During this process, the Security Service did not consult with Yongsan District or report the construction, nor did it submit a commencement notice. Even after completing the inspection in August 2022 and making payments, it failed to notify the authorities of the completion. The Board of Audit and Inspection stated that the Security Service did not obtain temporary use approval from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety from the start to the completion of the project, nor did it carry out permanent use procedures such as parcel division, change of use, or approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance after completion, leaving the facility neglected. The facility was entered as an "expense" in the budget accounting system, resulting in its omission from state property registration.

Supervision of the construction and completion inspections were also found to be poorly managed due to unclear assignment of responsibility. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety supervisor never visited the site, and the presidential office supervisor only visited occasionally and did not reside on-site, yet still signed the supervision records, according to the Board of Audit and Inspection.

Additionally, while the Board acknowledged that a private contract was unavoidable due to the residence being a "first-class" national security facility, it identified procedural violations such as the lack of a design document in the contract by the Public Procurement Service and the failure to obtain a single estimate by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Although no separate illegal or improper acts were found regarding suspicions of preferential treatment for the pavilion construction company, the Board confirmed a procedural violation in which the presidential office requested the commencement of work before the contract was signed and instructed the company to begin construction without submitting a commencement notice.

Through this audit, the Board of Audit and Inspection identified 11 illegal or improper acts and recommended disciplinary action, notification for personnel records, and institutional improvements. Some requests related to contractor selection, budget increases and execution, and additional facilities such as the dressing room were closed as no new issues were found.

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