"Presidential Residence Construction Favoritism Maze... Responsible Ministry Remains Idle" [2024 National Audit]

Ahn Tae-jun, Democratic Party Lawmaker
"Board of Audit Confirms Legal Violations... Will Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Take Administrative Action?"
Suspected False Statements Confirmed by Board of Audit, Discrepancies Found with Official Documents

Amid the confirmation of major legal violations, including the Framework Act on the Construction Industry, during the expansion construction of the presidential residence, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the competent authority, has been criticized for responding lukewarmly.

At the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee hearing held at the Government Complex Sejong on the 7th, Ahn Tae-jun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, “Since multiple violations of laws under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport have been confirmed, the Ministry must actively take administrative actions against them.”

Referring to the audit report on the presidential residence expansion construction recently released by the Board of Audit and Inspection, Representative Ahn pointed out, “According to the Board of Audit and Inspection’s data, illegal acts by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Presidential Security Service, the Presidential Secretariat, which led the expansion construction, as well as the companies involved in the construction, have been revealed. However, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which is responsible for administrative sanctions, is just standing by.”

He added, “It is dereliction of duty by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport not to fulfill its fundamental responsibilities just because national institutions and those closely related to the Presidential Office are involved.”

He also emphasized, “Since there are circumstances where the statements made by the related parties to the Board of Audit and Inspection and the contents confirmed in official documents do not match, we will thoroughly question this during the current National Assembly inspection.”

Representative Ahn stated, “At that time, the transition committee officials said that since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ official residence was remodeled in 2021, it was confirmed as the official residence because it cost less than the initially mentioned 육참 Gonggwan. However, as a result, remodeling was carried out at a cost of 3.5 billion KRW under someone’s instruction. We will uncover whose instruction led to the decision of the official residence, why the remodeling was carried out, and why 21gram was selected as the contractor.”

He continued, “The purpose of this audit request was to verify preferential treatment between Mrs. Kim Geon-hee and the construction company, but the Board of Audit and Inspection concluded the investigation limited to the construction process without investigating the preferential treatment suspicions. Since the limitations of the Board of Audit and Inspection have clearly been revealed, this issue should be expanded to a parliamentary investigation or special prosecutor to clarify these suspicions.”