Suspicion of Favoritism Toward a Specific Company in Design Competition Process
Unsuccessful Companies Raise Issues... Court Dismisses Injunction Request
The police have conducted a search and seizure of the relevant departments at Gwangju City Hall regarding suspicions that a specific company received preferential treatment during the design competition process for the "Yeongsangang Exciting Zone Development Project" being promoted by Gwangju City.
On the morning of June 5, the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency sent investigators to the city hall department responsible for the project and executed a search and seizure warrant.
The police are investigating whether Gwangju City violated the competition guidelines and distorted the process to ensure that a specific company would be selected.
The Yeongsangang Exciting Zone Development Project is a core initiative of the "Y Project," a major pledge of the 8th popularly elected administration. With a total budget of 41.6 billion won, the project includes the construction of an artificial surfing facility, a natural-style water play experience center, a lawn plaza, and a themed experience hall in the area around Sandonggyo Bridge in Dongnim-dong, Buk-gu.
To gather a wide range of ideas, the city divided the international design competition into two stages. In the first stage in December of last year, 11 entries were selected, and 5 of these were shortlisted for the second stage of judging. The final winning entry was selected in February of this year.
However, some companies that were not selected claimed there were problems with the competition process and raised suspicions that preferential treatment was given to the selected company. One of these companies also filed for an injunction to halt the design competition process against Gwangju City, but the court recently dismissed the request.
Regardless of the court's decision, the police are continuing their investigation, focusing on whether there were violations of the competition guidelines and any illegality in the administrative procedures.
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