Countermeasures Committee: "Audit Began with a Predetermined Conclusion"
"Massive Public Opinion Campaign... Controversy Over Violent Audit Methods"
The Democratic Party's Former Regime Political Oppression Countermeasures Committee strongly opposed the Board of Audit and Inspection's (BAI) announcement on the 17th that the Blue House and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport under the Moon Jae-in administration had instructed the distortion of real estate policy-related statistics, calling it a "clear fabricated audit."
On the same day, the Countermeasures Committee held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and stated, "We condemn the fabricated audit by the BAI, which has become a collaborator in treason."
The committee claimed, "This statistical manipulation case was an audit that started with a predetermined conclusion, and the Presidential Office, the People Power Party, and conservative media have competed to create a massive public opinion campaign, calling it a 'national disgrace' and 'fabrication.'"
They continued, "After receiving a request for investigation from the BAI in March last year, the prosecution indicted 11 people, and the trial process is currently underway," adding, "To reach the predetermined 'answer,' the investigation period was extended three times, and related persons were intimidated with threats such as 'If you do not cooperate, you will be handed over to the prosecution' and 'You will be imprisoned for obstructing the audit.' There are even controversies that the audit was conducted in a very violent and coercive manner, forcing agreement to pre-written statements."
Furthermore, they stated, "After starting the audit in 2022, the BAI requested an investigation from the prosecution before the final audit report, which had gone through the Audit Committee's resolution, was even released. The prosecution indicted related persons and brought them to trial, using 'tricks' to make many public officials victims of oppression," criticizing, "It is suspicious that the BAI believed that statistical manipulation, which is impossible due to the participation of numerous public officials and investigators, was possible and drew that conclusion."
Regarding real estate statistics, the committee argued, "Not only the weekly trend statistics that the BAI is concerned about but also various statistics, including those from private institutions, are publicly available," and questioned, "Anyone with even a little common sense in this field would know that there is no practical benefit in artificially raising or lowering specific statistical figures."
Addressing Choi Jae-hae, the recently reinstated head of the BAI, they said, "It is said that the person in charge of the suspicion regarding the relocation of the Hannam-dong residence was disciplined," and criticized, "The BAI claims to be a support institution for the president's state affairs, but the head of the BAI himself denied the 'independence' of the BAI and now seems to have even joined in supporting treason."
They added, "The only 'outcome' awaiting the BAI, which has lost its value as an independent institution and earned the stigma of being a treason-supporting organization, is one," raising their voice, "It will be the first target of reforms tantamount to dismantlement."
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