"Reveal Governor Choi Moon-soon's 'Legoland Suspicion' First"… Civic Group Opposes "GJC Guarantee Debt Repayment"

"Deliberating Supplementary Budget Without Key Information Accelerates 'GJC Crime'"
"If Supplementary Budget Passes, Provincial Assembly Members Will Be Criminally Reported for 'Breach of Trust and Other Charges'"

The civic group Chuncheon Jungdo Prehistoric Site Preservation Headquarters urged the Gangwon Provincial Council's Budget and Accounts Special Committee on the 30th to disclose important information and enforce penalties regarding the supplementary budget review, which includes the repayment amount of 205 billion won in GJC guaranteed debt. [Jungdo Headquarters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] The civic group Chuncheon Jungdo Prehistoric Site Preservation Headquarters (hereinafter Jungdo Headquarters) has opposed the repayment of the guarantee debt of Jungdo Development Corporation (GJC), which is responsible for the construction of the Legoland infrastructure, demanding to "reveal the undisclosed information and suspicions related to Legoland under the previous Governor Choi Moon-soon administration."

On the 30th, Jungdo Headquarters stated, "After Gangwon Province announced GJC's rehabilitation application, in a situation where the public is deeply concerned about the 'Legoland financial crisis,' they are trying to repay the GJC loan of 205 billion KRW early."

Jungdo Headquarters warned, "If the Gangwon Provincial Council reviews the supplementary budget submitted by Gangwon Province without knowing important information about GJC, it could inadvertently accelerate GJC's crimes," adding, "There is a high possibility that irreparable damage will additionally occur to Chuncheon City and Gangwon Province."

They further criticized, "Former Democratic Party Governor Choi Moon-soon did not preserve the Jungdo site in its original form to develop it as a tourism resource, but instead signed an MDA with the UK Merlin and Legoland without informing the residents of Gangwon Province of its value, leasing the site rent-free for 100 years."

They added, "The UK earns 5 trillion KRW annually from Stonehenge, a prehistoric site comparable in archaeological value to the Jungdo site," and claimed, "During Governor Choi Moon-soon's tenure, the civic group (Jungdo Headquarters) filed a petition urging Gangwon Province to recognize the tourism value of the Jungdo site, but Gangwon Province rejected it."

During Governor Choi's tenure, Gangwon Province reportedly spent 209.8 billion KRW in national and provincial funds on Legoland-related projects, and GJC's investment reached 454.2 billion KRW, with most of the investment being direct or indirect from Gangwon Province.

Moreover, after signing a contract to lease approximately 80,000 pyeong of the Jungdo site rent-free to Merlin for 100 years (50 years rent-free with an additional 50-year extension), the agreement was kept confidential, drawing criticism as an "unfair contract" and raising various corruption suspicions.

Jungdo Headquarters particularly emphasized, "What shocks Chuncheon citizens is that Gangwon Province planned to build large-scale commercial facilities including Legoland residential lodging facilities (luxury hotels for Chinese luxury tourists) consisting of three buildings with three underground floors and 49 above-ground floors on the Jungdo site."

They continued, "While Legoland receives enormous benefits, most of the business profits go to Merlin," and pointed out, "Jungdo is located in a water source protection area upstream of Paldang Dam, which supplies drinking water to tens of millions of citizens, and development is restricted, yet GJC intends to harm the public's health rights for business profits."

During the Legoland construction process at Jungdo, 1,266 prehistoric house sites and 149 dolmen tombs, along with artifacts and relics from the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages, were densely discovered, making it the world's largest site of its kind with an origin difficult to trace.

Jungdo Headquarters declared, "If the Provincial Council passes the supplementary budget including the 205 billion KRW guarantee debt repayment, it will be considered as condoning the illegal destruction of the Jungdo site for the benefit of Merlin and GJC and wasting taxpayers' money, and we will file criminal charges against the related provincial council members for breach of duty."

Previously, Jungdo Headquarters delivered a document titled "Request for Audit of Chuncheon Legoland Project" to 49 Gangwon Provincial Council members and has filed charges against former Governor Choi and GJC, among others, for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Meanwhile, former Governor Choi was handed over to the prosecution on charges of obstructing the bidding for the sale of Pyeongchang Alpensia and was also accused as a cause of the Legoland incident.