Presidential Office Targets LH in National Audit... Opposition: "Yongsan Children's Garden Acts as a Favor for Kim Gun-hee" [2024 National Audit]

Allegations of Exclusive Contracts and Budget Misuse with Specific Companies
"Temporary Opening is a Loophole Due to Soil Contamination"

During the National Assembly audit of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), opposition party lawmakers directed questions targeting the Presidential Office. Allegations were raised regarding the Presidential Office's involvement in the sudden installation of a 'fountain garden' in the temporarily opened Yongsan Children's Garden, as well as preferential treatment by Kim Geon-hee in awarding contracts to certain companies.

Lee Han-jun, President of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), is taking the oath as a witness at the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit held on the morning of the 10th. / Photo by Yonhap News

On the 10th, Jeong Jun-ho, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, asked at the audit held at the National Assembly, "The original master plan for the utilization of Yongsan Children's Garden did not include a fountain garden," and questioned, "Did the Presidential Office or the First Lady intervene in the Yongsan Children's Garden project?"

He then mentioned Shin Ik-tae, CEO of All That Campus, adding suspicion by stating, "According to some reports, CEO Shin attended the MBA program at Kookmin University’s Graduate School of Leadership and Coaching from 2014 to 2016, which exactly coincides with the period when Kim Geon-hee served as an adjunct professor at Kookmin University." All That Campus is an event management company, and according to Jeong’s analysis, the contract they secured amounts to a total of 13 billion KRW.

He said, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and LH diverted 13.2 billion KRW from the smart city construction budget to the garden creation budget for fountain installation, etc.," adding, "It seems unlikely that a budget transfer exceeding 10 billion KRW could be resolved at the working-level. There was probably resistance within LH as well, since funding was not secured internally but the project proceeded."

Jeong also pointed out that a post with photos uploaded by CEO Shin on social media right after the opening of Yongsan Children's Park in May last year implied that there were people who would continue to push the contract forward. It was reported that Shin posted, "We have grown from a small to a medium-sized company. Maybe it’s time to aim for a stock listing." Shin also appeared as a witness on the first day of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee audit on the 7th.

In response, Lee Han-jun, LH President, denied the allegations, stating, "The Yongsan project is close to power, so when the administration changes, various issues may arise, so we are carefully managing it. LH is a trustee agency, so if the budget is diverted and given, we just execute it." He added, "The LH president has never personally visited the site to discuss work related to Yongsan Children's Garden," and "Because we never know what might happen after the work is done, we selected the most accurate and competent staff for the task when assigning personnel."

Song Young-hwan, LH Planning and Coordination Office Director, who was the person in charge at the time, answered when asked about the decision-making process involving related agencies, "The Presidential Office’s Administrative Secretary (Kim Oh-jin), the Presidential Security Service, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and LH consulted together."

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

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

Yoon Jong-gun, a Democratic Party lawmaker, pointed out safety issues with the site and criticized the temporary opening as a loophole. Yoon said, "All returned U.S. military bases have been confirmed to have serious soil contamination," and "Since contaminated land cannot be completed without remediation, the temporary opening was done without formal budget allocation."

Jeon Yong-gi, also from the Democratic Party, emphasized that soil contamination investigations were not properly conducted. When a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport employee rebutted that "the Ministry of Environment conducted the investigation according to the Soil Environment Conservation Act," Jeon criticized, "It is not perfect," and said, "Since first-class carcinogens such as copper and zinc were detected, they tried to designate it as a 'garden' instead of a 'park'." In response, LH stated, "We have completed measures appropriate for temporary opening (contamination investigation, toxicity assessment, mitigation measures, etc.) rather than formal creation."