Seongnam City Files Defamation Complaint Against Civic Group Over "Cleaning Service Bid-Rigging Allegations"

Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Shin Sang-jin) announced on the 23rd that it had filed a police complaint alleging defamation against Mr. Lee, the executive director, and Mr. Baek, the secretary-general of the “Seongnam City Administration Watch Alliance,” who held a press conference on April 22 in front of the Seongnam City Council to raise suspicions over the city's cleaning service bidding process.

Seongnam City’s attorney is submitting a complaint to Bundang Police Station on the 23rd. Provided by Seongnam City

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The civic group raised suspicions regarding alleged bid-rigging among participating companies, the alleged drafting of proposals by external parties and obstruction of bidding, and allegations that a representative from a specific company visited the mayor’s office to request winning the bid. Seongnam City stated that all of these claims are “clearly false” and, at 5:50 p.m. on April 23, filed a complaint at Bundang Police Station.

In the complaint, Seongnam City stated, “The accused insist that there is a joint director relationship among the three companies L, K, and B. However, after reviewing the certified copies of corporate registration submitted by the bidding companies, Seongnam City found that there were no overlapping registered directors between L and K. Furthermore, B is a company based in Seoul and did not even participate in the Seongnam City cleaning service bid.”

The city also stated that the suspicion of “external proposal drafting and secret backdoor dealings” raised by the civic group is likewise false. The method of drafting proposals falls within the realm of each company’s independent business judgment, and in itself neither constitutes an illegal act nor undermines the fairness of the bidding process. The city asserted that claims suggesting there was serious corruption throughout the bidding process are a clear distortion of the facts.

Regarding the allegation that a representative of a specific company visited the mayor’s office to request the contract award, the city stated that this claim is groundless and emphasized that neither Seongnam City nor any related public officials were involved in any improper solicitations.

The city also clarified that the allegations raised by the civic group regarding “backdoor dealings in the purchase of the legal district site” and “waste of taxpayers’ money” are not factual.

Seongnam City explained that the purchase of the site was carried out for the public purpose of “promptly relocating the legal district” and was the result of normal negotiations with a trustee company (Korea Land Trust). All procedures were conducted transparently in accordance with relevant laws, and all legal procedures such as appraisals were thoroughly followed.

In addition, the city stated that “using provocative terms such as ‘backdoor dealings’ to depict the transaction as an illegal act is a clear presentation of false information.”

The city also explained that the site purchased in 2021 (Lot No. 6960, Sinheung-dong) was intended for park development, while the site purchased in 2023 (Lot No. 2457-1 and three other lots in Sinheung-dong) was for constructing the legal district. Therefore, the purposes and locations of the projects are different.

The city went on to say, “Claiming a ‘waste of taxpayers’ money’ by simply comparing the prices without considering the increase in land value between 2021 and 2023 is a serious distortion of the facts.”

A Seongnam City official stated, “The act of spreading baseless falsehoods through a public press conference is a grave matter that severely damages not only the personal reputation of the mayor of Seongnam but also the reputations of Seongnam City public officials who handled the matter fairly in accordance with the law and principles. This is a serious criminal act that cannot be tolerated as freedom of expression, and we will respond strictly in accordance with the law and principles.”

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