Wanju County Office Maintains Permit for Bongdong Y Industry Collection and Transportation Business 'Controversy'

Military Official: "Cannot Comment Due to Ongoing Litigation"

The left side shows the scene when Wanju-gun canceled the processing business permit of the former owner, Mr. Jin, in 2016. The right side shows the site after the cancellation, where waste continues to pile up, covering the entire factory premises.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Geon-ju] A fierce legal battle is underway between Wanju County and the current owner over the massive waste disposal costs of Y Industry, a waste disposal company located in Bongdong-myeon, Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk (Asia Economy, June 18 issue - “The county governor I elected with my own hands”… Wanju County Office criticized for ‘administrative negligence’ and appeals of ‘unfairness’).

The issue is that although Wanju County revoked the permit for Y Industry’s waste disposal business, it maintained the permit for the collection and transportation business, which has led to criticism that this caused illegal waste overloading and public opinion questioning whether this is effectively a ‘special favor’.

According to Mr. Hong, the current owner of Y Industry, and Wanju County on the 10th, Mr. Hong acquired the current Y Industry by auction around June 2017 while looking for a site for a toilet paper manufacturing plant.

The permitted processing capacity was 670 tons, which was authorized by Wanju County.

However, currently about 13,000 tons are piled up at this site.

Despite exceeding the permitted processing capacity and violating the law, the previous owner has left, and only the current owner and Wanju County are engaged in a dispute.

Wanju County revoked the waste disposal business permit against the previous owner of Y Industry around July 2016, when over 5,000 tons of waste had accumulated at the 670-ton permitted site.

However, the collection and transportation business permit, which was granted together with the disposal business permit at that time, was not revoked and was maintained, leading some to suggest this was a ‘special favor’.

In response, Wanju County stated, “We cannot comment as it is under litigation.”

Wanju County only revoked the waste disposal business permit but maintained the collection and transportation business permit, resulting in current disposal costs of 3.1 billion KRW. Mr. Hong considers this series of events unfair and is currently engaged in litigation.

Mr. Hong condemned, “It is incomprehensible why Wanju County revoked only the disposal business permit for a site where illegal waste was piled up but kept the collection and transportation business permit intact.”

He also strongly protested that the previous operator, Mr. Jin, continued to pile up waste even during the auction process, and that Wanju County, which should have supervised this, was negligent in its management and supervision.

Regarding this, Wanju County is known to have submitted photos as evidence of supervision to the court, but Mr. Hong argued, “The photos have no dates, their authenticity is uncertain, and even the enforcement ordinance document submitted by the county to evade responsibility for poor supervision lacks the official seal that should naturally be present, raising many doubts.”

When asked why Wanju County revoked only the disposal business permit but not the collection and transportation business permit, they said, “It is inappropriate to comment as it is under litigation,” adding, “We believe the court will make a judgment, and we will withhold any answers to questions.”

Meanwhile, the previous owner, Mr. Jin, who ignored the permitted capacity and overloaded the site, did not attend the recent second trial, and the Jeonju District Court imposed a fine of 2 million KRW.