Daejang-dong Development Contest "Guidelines Created for Seongnam Corporation to Conduct Sole Evaluation"

Hwacheon Daeyu and its affiliates, which participated in the Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam City, earned profits exceeding 1,000 times their capital, while allegations have been raised that Seongnam Urban Development Corporation created the project bidding guidelines so that the corporation alone would conduct the evaluation during the development project bidding process.

According to the Daejang-dong development project bidding guidelines obtained on the 18th by Choi Chunsik, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the People Power Party, the corporation divided the "bidding evaluation method" into "business plan evaluation (650 points)" and "operation plan evaluation (350 points)" and instructed that evaluations be conducted using both "relative evaluation" and "absolute evaluation" methods.

In particular, Choi's office stated that out of the total 1,000 points, the "absolute evaluation items" worth 390 points were to be evaluated solely and directly by Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, not by the selection review committee composed of urban development experts.

Subsequently, Seongnam Urban Development Corporation selected Seongnam Utddeul, a special purpose corporation in which Hwacheon Daeyu participated, as the project operator.

Hwacheon Daeyu has raised suspicions of preferential treatment as Mr. A, who owns 100% of the shares, interviewed Governor Lee Jae-myung seven months before Hwacheon Daeyu was established.

According to Choi's office, the head of the planning division of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, who was in charge of the bidding work while planning the Daejang-dong development project at that time, later moved to become the president of Gyeonggi Tourism Organization and is currently known to be active in Governor Lee Jae-myung's campaign.

Choi said, "The local government’s urban development bidding evaluation method should be improved to ensure fairness," adding, "Since suspicions of preferential treatment have arisen, investigative authorities must thoroughly investigate and clarify who Hwacheon Daeyu truly belongs to."