[2022 National Audit] Baek Hyun-jin Requests Ministry of Culture to Conduct Self-Audit on 'Kim Jung-sook Taj Mahal'

Bae Hyun-jin and Yoon Young-seok, who announced their resignation from the position of Supreme Council members of the People Power Party, are leaving the meeting room after a closed Supreme Council meeting held on the 2nd at the National Assembly floor leader's office. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The People Power Party has requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to conduct an internal audit, stating that there is no mention of First Lady Kim Jung-sook's 2018 visit to the Taj Mahal in the official trip report.

On the 5th, Bae Hyun-jin, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the People Power Party, stated during the national audit, "The Blue House announced that First Lady Kim's visit to the Taj Mahal was arranged because Indian Prime Minister Modi earnestly requested it and the Indian side continuously wished for her attendance. However, after confirming the position through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this time, we found discrepancies from what the Blue House had previously announced."

He added, "Originally, it was the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism's visit schedule, but the Blue House informed that the First Lady would accompany the trip when the India visit was imminent. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the Indian side, and India sent an invitation accordingly," and noted, "The Foreign Affairs Committee also stated that this is diplomatically and ordinarily an unlikely occurrence." Regarding this, Minister Park Bo-gyun of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism responded, "I think there are quite unusual aspects."

Regarding the costs of the First Lady's visit to India, he pointed out, "She herself requested the India visit two weeks before departure to visit the Taj Mahal, creating an emergency situation, and emergency reserve funds were approved within just three days," adding, "Reserve funds are budgets set aside for national emergencies or disasters."

He also raised suspicions that the budget was allocated based on false reporting of the schedule. He said, "The preliminary application submitted to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance did not include the Taj Mahal in the schedule, and the final report submitted to the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism also did not mention the Taj Mahal visit. Therefore, this is evidence that the schedule was falsely reported to allocate the reserve funds."

He continued, "Whenever a business trip or official visit is made, detailed government reports on the content must remain," and criticized, "Although it was explained that the visit to the Taj Mahal was urgent, there was no result report on the schedule of the First Lady's visit to the Taj Mahal in the official trip report."