'Gwangju Private Park Favoritism' Former Administrative Deputy Mayor Jeong Jong-je Also Acquitted in Second Trial

Most of the public officials accused of improperly intervening in the selection of the preferred negotiator for private parks in Gwangju Metropolitan City were acquitted.

The 3rd Criminal Division (Appellate Division, presiding judge Kim Seong-heum) of the Gwangju District Court held an appellate trial on the 12th for four current and former Gwangju city officials charged with abuse of authority, obstruction of rights, obstruction of business, forgery of official documents, and disclosure of official secrets.

The court acquitted Jeong Jong-je (60), former Deputy Mayor of Gwangju, Yoon Young-ryeol (61), former Chairman of the Audit Committee, and city official Yang Mo (59), maintaining the same verdict as the first trial.

Regarding Lee, the former Director of the Ecological Environment Bureau, the court found him guilty only of forgery of official documents and imposed the same fine of 5 million won as in the first trial.

They were indicted on charges of exerting undue pressure to change the preferred negotiator during the 2018 Gwangju Metropolitan City private park (Jungang Park) special project.

The Gwangju private park special project involves a construction company purchasing land that had been designated as a park for a long time, developing more than 70% of it into a park and donating it to the city, while building apartments on the remaining portion.

The Gwangju Audit Committee announced that during the selection process of the preferred negotiator for the second phase of the private park special project that year, there were irregularities such as incorrect scoring and leakage of evaluation results to external parties.

Subsequently, the preferred negotiator for Jungang Park District 1 was changed from Gwangju Urban Corporation to Hanyang Construction, and for District 2 from Kumho Construction to Hoban Construction.

The prosecution viewed that the defendants abused their supervisory authority by conducting targeted audits and granting preferential treatment to specific companies.

However, the court ruled, "It is recognized that Lee, the former director, forged official documents to change the preferred negotiator for the private park special project," and "there is no evidence to suggest that the other defendants intervened in the Audit Committee for improper purposes or gave unjust orders to subordinate staff."