This Time, Calls for 'Gratitude'... Controversy Over Gyeongnam Office of Education's Smart Device Distribution Project

Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly Member Park Chunduk Criticizes Supply and Maintenance Contracts

Park Chunduk, member of the Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly, People Power Party.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Park Chunduk, a member of the People Power Party and Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly, has called for an audit of the Gyeongnam Office of Education's smart device distribution project.

Park made this claim during the 2nd Budget and Settlement Special Committee meeting on the 27th for the approval of the 2021 fiscal year Gyeongsangnam-do Education Special Account settlement and supplementary budget expenditure, following his provincial government questions at the 3rd plenary session of the 398th regular meeting of the Provincial Assembly.

He stated, “The Office of Education claims that they proceeded with a negotiated contract to select a company guaranteed with expertise and technical skills for stable device delivery, essential program app installation, and five years of defect repair management, but this is not true.”

He emphasized, “The Gyeongnam Office of Education, which invested a large-scale project budget amounting to 157 billion KRW in the distribution and maintenance contract of student smart devices, must actively conduct an audit regarding the various suspicions raised.”

Park explained, “In reality, the devices were not supplied as scheduled, and final delivery was completed over seven months past the contract deadline. The app program that was supposed to be installed mandatorily is actually the Device Management System (MDM) that the Office of Education is already developing.”

He continued, “Isn't the current situation one where the contracting company should be held responsible for the delayed delivery and fined? I do not understand why relatively advantageous multilateral negotiations were excluded from the perspective of lowering contract prices or encouraging local company participation.”

He also mentioned that during the administrative audit in November last year, an education office official said that repair costs were already included in the device delivery price, and that the LG consortium, the device distribution company, had established an A/S direct control center uniting 103 related companies in the province, as revealed earlier this year on the Superintendent’s blog.

Park demanded, “There must be a clear explanation regarding the separate defect repair Service Level Agreement (SLA) concluded, and the Office of Education’s Audit Office should take an interest in this matter and conduct routine or regular audits.”

Additionally, he urged the Education Office Audit Office to review ▲ similar and overlapping projects such as iTalkTalk and e-Hakseupteo, ▲ post-processing due to malfunction of test management programs, and ▲ price differences for devices with the same specifications.

In response, Lee Minjae, Auditor of the Gyeongnam Office of Education, said, “Routine audits can review project feasibility in advance when the project budget is large within a certain limit after receiving audit requests.”

“This matter is a project not yet fully completed, so there will be opportunities for further investigation,” he added. “Since this is the first project of its kind nationwide, there are various cautious aspects.”

The auditor replied, “Once the project is completed, it can be thoroughly examined not only by the Office of Education’s internal audit but also through administrative audits and at the National Assembly and Board of Audit and Inspection levels.”