LH President Lee Han-jun: "LH Not Involved in Yongsan Children's Garden Development Project" [2024 National Audit]

Opposition Raises Suspicion of Presidential Office's Involvement in Projects
Criticism of Sole-Source Contracts and Flawed Soil Pollution Investigation

Lee Han-jun, President of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), stated regarding the Yongsan Children's Garden project, which was promoted alongside the presidential office's relocation to Yongsan, "I want to make it clear that no LH headquarters executives or senior officials were involved at all."

Lee Han-jun, President of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), is responding to questions at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit held in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 10th. / Photo by Yonhap News

On the 10th, during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit held in Yeouido, Seoul, Lee responded to a question from Jeong Jun-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asking whether the presidential office or the first lady intervened in the Yongsan Children's Garden project, saying, "This task was entirely carried out by the Yongsan Promotion Project Team under the Seoul Headquarters."

Rep. Jeong raised suspicions that the presidential office might have intervened in the sudden installation of a 'fountain garden,' which was not included in the original master plan for the Yongsan Children's Garden. He also pointed out that a specific company received preferential treatment by consecutively winning large-scale private contracts. He said, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and LH diverted 13.2 billion KRW for fountain construction and used it for the garden creation budget," adding, "Diverting over 10 billion KRW cannot be handled solely at the working-level. I presume there was resistance within LH since the internal funding was not secured, yet this service contract proceeded."

In response, President Lee said, "LH is a commissioned agency, so if the budget is diverted and given, we just execute it." He further explained, "The LH president has never personally visited the site or directly negotiated regarding the Yongsan Children's Garden," adding, "We regarded it as a very important project, and since we never know what might happen after the work is completed, we selected the most accurate and capable employees when assigning personnel."

Song Young-hwan, LH Planning and Coordination Office Director, who was the person in charge at the time, when asked about the agencies involved in the consultation, replied, "The decision-making process was determined through consultations with related agencies," and added, "The presidential office's management secretary (Kim Oh-jin), the Presidential Security Service, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and LH held consultations."

There was also criticism that out of 187 private consignment service contracts for the Yongsan Children's Garden project, 123 contracts (66%) were awarded through private contracts. Rep. Bok Ki-wang of the Democratic Party criticized, "No small local government or company operates like this," and said, "This may sound unpleasant, but I suspect the project was carried out in a way that if the president said, 'It would be nice to have a pine tree,' an order would be placed accordingly."

Rep. Jeon Yong-gi of the Democratic Party stated that soil contamination investigations were not properly conducted. When a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official rebutted that "the Ministry of Environment conducted the investigation according to the Soil Environment Conservation Act," Rep. Jeon pointed out, "It is not perfect," adding, "Since first-class carcinogens such as copper and zinc were detected, it seems they intended to designate it as a 'garden' instead of a 'park.'"

Rep. Jeon said, "Due to the rushed construction without proper verification procedures for soil contamination, it was labeled as a garden, and hundreds of billions of KRW of taxpayers' money were spent," adding, "The air pollution investigation report also omits where the measurements were taken. From our perspective, it can only be concluded that the presidential office urgently requested the garden to be opened."