Unfair Intervention by Former Minister Kim in the Formation of the Investigation and Evaluation Committee
Economic Feasibility Analysis Criteria and Methods Also Inappropriate... "Limitations in Validity and Reliability"
It has been confirmed that Kim Eun-kyung, then Minister of Environment, was improperly involved in the process of dismantling the four major river weirs promoted by the Moon Jae-in administration. In particular, it was revealed that certain civic groups also influenced the disposal process of each weir.
On the 20th, the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) disclosed a public interest audit report indicating problems with the Ministry of Environment's decisions regarding the dismantling and permanent opening of the Geumgang and Yeongsangang weirs. The BAI also announced that it requested a prosecution investigation in January into former Minister Kim, who is suspected of interfering in the composition of the evaluation panel.
First, the BAI judged that former Minister Kim improperly intervened in the formation of the Four Major Rivers Investigation and Evaluation Committee, which was launched at the end of 2018. The core issue is that Kim instructed the team leader of the department responsible for launching the committee to form the expert panel in consultation with civic groups opposing the Four Major Rivers Project. This group was formed by over 180 civic organizations opposing the project, and the BAI believes that the team leader, following Kim’s instructions, selected candidates mainly recommended by this group, who were opposed to the Four Major Rivers Project, to form the expert committee.
Moreover, before the selection of committee members, the list of about 160 recommended candidates was leaked to this civic group, which then requested the exclusion of individuals who supported or assisted the Four Major Rivers Project. However, the BAI stated that although many opposing civic groups were included in the investigation committee, it is difficult to directly link this to the decision to dismantle the weirs.
The BAI also concluded that the decision-making process of the investigation and evaluation committee, which produced the 2019 result of "weir dismantling and permanent opening," was inappropriate. The committee’s key basis for deciding to dismantle the weirs was the economic feasibility analysis (B/C), but due to a deadline requiring a conclusion within two months, the committee used methods with limitations in validity and reliability instead of scientific and rational approaches. Furthermore, while reviewing the standards and methods for economic feasibility analysis, the expert committee changed the comparison points of water quality and aquatic ecosystem measurement data between "before weir installation" and "after weir opening" during meetings without pre-establishing evaluation methods and criteria, thereby calculating the economic feasibility values inconsistently.
The BAI explained, "We have communicated a total of four audit results, including notifying one related party who handled the committee formation unlawfully and improperly about their misconduct," and added, "We requested a prosecution investigation in January regarding former Minister Kim, the team leader, and the head of the Four Major Rivers Investigation and Evaluation Team."
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