[2025 Audit] Kim Yoonduk: "Korail Signs Another Contract with Habitual Defaulters... Ministry to Audit"

by Choi Seoyoon

Published 29 Oct.2025 16:19(KST)

Kim Yoonduk, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, attended the 2025 comprehensive government audit held by the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on the 29th and reported on the improvement directions for the issues pointed out during the audit period. Photo by Yonhap News

Kim Yoonduk, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, announced plans to improve the bidding system and initiate an administrative audit in response to the delayed railcar deliveries by Dawonsys.

At the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's government audit on the 29th, Minister Kim stated, "Despite Dawonsys's diminished delivery capacity due to difficulties in procuring parts, the company continued to receive excessive orders from Korail and Seoul Metro, which worsened the situation." He added, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to conduct an audit regarding the fact that Korail signed another contract with Dawonsys last year, even though Dawonsys had failed to deliver a significant number of railcars."

Dawonsys is one of the three major domestic railcar manufacturers, producing ITX-Ma-eum trains and electric trains. The company signed a contract with Korail in 2018-2019 to supply 358 ITX-Ma-eum cars worth 672 billion won, but it has been revealed that more than half-210 cars-have yet to be delivered. Although the originally scheduled delivery deadline was exceeded by up to 2 years and 10 months, Korail reportedly did not raise any issues and instead signed a new contract with Dawonsys last year to supply an additional 116 ITX-Ma-eum cars, as pointed out during the government audit on the 21st.

Park Seonsun, CEO of Dawonsys, appeared at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit on Korail, the Korea Rail Network Authority, and SR held on the 21st at the Korea Rail Network Authority headquarters in Dong-gu, Daejeon, responding to lawmakers' inquiries. Photo by Yonhap News

Minister Kim identified problems with the bidding method as the cause of the repeated delays. Currently, a two-stage competitive bidding process is used, with technical evaluation followed by price evaluation. However, he explained, "The assessment of delivery capability lacks differentiation, so in effect, contracts are being awarded to the lowest bidder."

He also pointed out legal shortcomings as a limitation. Minister Kim said, "Under the current National Contract Act and Local Contract Act, there is no legal basis to exclude companies with repeated delivery delays from bidding." He continued, "We will work with relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to revise the criteria for evaluating delivery capability and establish grounds for restricting bids from companies with repeated delays." He also mentioned that the National Assembly is pursuing a related amendment bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Jeong Junho.