Controversy Continues Over the 'Great Hangang Project'
Democratic Party's New Seoul Preparation Committee Calls for Audit
Seoul City: "Yeouido Ferry Terminal Is a Private Project with No Financial Burden on the City"
The ‘Great Hangang Project,’ a key initiative of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, is showing signs of trouble from the very beginning.
The New Seoul Special Committee of the Seoul Democratic Party (Chairman Park Joo-min) held a press conference on the 16th, claiming, "While the River (Hangang) Bus is embroiled in controversy over a shipbuilding contract with a newly established company that has neither formed a corporation nor any track record, now allegations of preferential treatment in the Yeouido pier construction project have also surfaced."
The special committee stated, "According to a recording revealed by Assemblyman Lee Kwang-hee during the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee’s Seoul city audit on the 15th, there is evidence of prior collusion regarding the bidding criteria and single bidding before the Yeouido pier project was publicly announced. Furthermore, despite the deadline for the capital payment promised by the selected business operator having passed, Seoul City took no action and did not impose any delay damages for the construction period delay," emphasizing these points.
They added, "Moreover, the agreement did not specify the business operation period separately, revealing a structure that allows virtually unlimited operation as long as the ferry business license is maintained. Despite repeated criticisms from National Assembly members during the audit, Seoul City and Mayor Oh Se-hoon consistently insisted, ‘This is a project with no financial input and no legal issues,’ resorting to stubborn denial and evasion. They dragged out the questioning time with irrelevant power struggles and nitpicking, attempting to frame the audit as a ‘political conflict.’"
On the morning of the 16th at 9:20 a.m., the Seoul Democratic Party and the Seoul Metropolitan Council Democratic Party jointly held a press conference regarding the Yeouido pier project allegations, strongly urging ▲ disclosure of the process for deciding the public offering conditions and whether prior consultations occurred ▲ inspection details by Seoul City during the project progress ▲ initiation of an audit to resolve the Yeouido pier project issues.
The Seoul Metropolitan Council Democratic Party (Representative Assemblyman Sung Heum-je) stated, "Illegal activities and preferential treatment suspicions are occurring daily in the Great Hangang Project, which involves trillions of won in public funds. We will make this issue a major focus during the upcoming November Seoul City administrative audit and examine it thoroughly."
Meanwhile, Seoul City explained in a statement, "This project aims to expand and diversify ship operations between the Hangang River and the Gyeongin Ara Waterway by constructing piers and operating cruise ships, and it is entirely unrelated to the River Bus (Hangang Bus) project. This project involves no financial input from Seoul City; it is a project proposed and fully invested in by private business operators with a total of 30 billion won. It is not a ‘construction project’ but a project for the creation of the Yeouido pier and cruise ship operations between the Hangang River and the Gyeongin Ara Waterway."
Seoul City further explained, "The recording is a conversation among insiders within the company and has no relation to Seoul City. According to the business operator’s representative, an investor who was supposed to participate in this project did not fulfill investment or investment attraction commitments and deliberately collected recordings to extort money. When the monetary demand failed, the recordings were maliciously distributed. On September 30, the business operator’s representative filed a criminal complaint against the investor at Eunpyeong Police Station for fraud, attempted extortion, and obstruction of business."
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