Will the 3-Month Blocked Seoul City Council Executive's Accounting Misconduct Allegation Emerge?

Since April, after a survey of Seoul Metropolitan Council Secretariat staff revealed cases where several senior expert committee members' family meal expenses were approved as business promotion expenses, an audit was planned but delayed due to opposition from some standing committee chairs; however, three months after Chairperson Choi Hojung's inauguration, the audit began on the 15th, drawing attention.

Will the lax discipline among senior officials of the Seoul Metropolitan Council be revealed through an audit?

The Seoul Metropolitan Council attempted to initiate an audit after a survey of its employees raised suspicions that several senior professional committee members dined with their families and charged the expenses to business promotion funds.

However, some committee chairpersons opposed the audit, seemingly fearing that their own misuse of business promotion funds might also be exposed, preventing the audit from moving forward.

After these twists and turns, the Seoul Metropolitan Audit Committee began an audit on the 15th, following a three-month delay, revealing through an internal employee survey that high-ranking officials at the department head level (Grade 4) in the council had dined with their families and charged the expenses to business promotion funds, indicating a lapse in discipline.

The Audit Committee had planned to start the audit on April 15 following a request from the council regarding suspicions of improper use of business promotion funds by some senior professional committee members, but opposition from committee chairpersons delayed the process until the second half of the 11th council term began, at which point the audit commenced.

In particular, with the inauguration of Chairperson Choi Ho-jung, it was determined that the audit could no longer be postponed legally, leading to the start of the audit this week.

The Seoul Metropolitan Audit Committee is composed of Seoul city officials, including Director Park Jae-yong and a Grade 4 audit officer.

Accordingly, it appears that some committee chairpersons opposed the audit three months ago due to concerns that their own misuse of business promotion funds might be revealed through the Audit Committee’s investigation.

The employee survey of the Seoul Metropolitan Council also reportedly uncovered allegations of power abuse against staff members.