Calls for Reevaluation of Fourth Public Offering Applicant
and Normalization of the Project
After being eliminated in the fourth public offering for the Masan Marine New City development project in Changwon, Gyeongnam, and subsequently receiving a court ruling invalidating the non-selection, the private business operator has spoken out regarding the long-standing allegations of collusion.
Kwon Junggeun, CEO of Se Kyung Industrial Development of the GS Consortium, an applicant in the fourth public offering, held a press conference at the Changwon City Hall press center on the 18th to address the issue.
GS Consortium's Se Kyung Industrial Development CEO Jeonggeun Kwon is holding a press conference for the 4th public offering applicants. Photo by Se Ryeong Lee
Kwon stated, "I cannot remain silent as attacks against Se Kyung Industrial Development have escalated beyond slander to portray us as criminals. I intend to set the record straight and hold those responsible for defamation through the spread of false information both civilly and criminally accountable."
He explained, "The appellate panel at the Busan High Court ruled that the failure to select the private business operator eliminated in the fourth public offering as the preferred negotiation partner constituted an abuse and deviation of discretionary power, and thus canceled the non-selection. The Supreme Court also dismissed Changwon City's appeal, revealing the damages suffered by the business operator and granting a chance for reevaluation."
He pointed out, "Despite this situation, city council members from the Democratic Party of Korea are denying the judiciary's ruling by claiming that the audit of Changwon City under the 8th popularly elected administration was manipulated."
He further claimed that the Democratic Party council members in Changwon defamed him by raising allegations of collusion and corruption between former Mayor Hong Nampyo and Se Kyung Industrial Development.
Kwon said, "The defamation caused by spreading false information?such as claims that those who reported former Mayor Hong for election law violations were coaxed into withdrawing their complaints and that billions of won in campaign expenses were promised as support?has already surpassed a murderous level."
GS Consortium, the applicant for the 4th public offering of Masan Marine New City, Seokyung Industrial Development CEO Kwon Junggeun is disclosing the private business operator's project plan evaluation sheet at the time of the 4th public offering. Photo by Lee Seryung
He asserted that, at the time, Changwon City intentionally lowered the scores by appointing the chairperson of the transition committee and a professor from Changwon National University as evaluation committee chairs, and by including three senior public officials as evaluation committee members, contrary to the public offering guidelines, in order to eliminate the fourth project applicant.
He continued, "City council members, who should represent the lives and will of the citizens, instead of criticizing the seventh popularly elected administration for unfairly eliminating a business operator who spent billions of won in an effort to develop their hometown of Masan, are now defending the cancellation of the fifth project applicant's preferred negotiation partner status and siding with the administration. I cannot help but question whom these council members truly represent."
He also pointed out, "Recently, the court ruled that the cancellation of the designation of Hyundai Development Consortium as the preferred negotiation partner in the fifth round was justified, revealing serious flaws in the selection process. I hope the true nature of the project will be properly examined."
Additionally, he said, "Changwon City has a duty to normalize the project as soon as possible through reevaluation. If the city delays the reevaluation due to the mayoral vacancy, the development of Changwon City will be in a dire situation that will be difficult to recover from."
He added, "If we are selected as the preferred negotiation partner through a legitimate reevaluation in accordance with the court's ruling, Masan Marine New City will be reborn as a future-oriented new city that coexists with the local commercial district through negotiations with Changwon City."
The Masan Marine New City development project is an initiative to attract private investment to build apartments, tourism and cultural complexes, and commercial facilities on an artificial island created by reclaiming public waters in Masan Bay with soil from the construction of Gapo New Port.
Since 2015, Changwon City has held five public offerings to select a private business operator to develop the 642,167-square-meter artificial island, but none have been selected, and the project has been mired in lawsuits and conflict for ten years.
Se Kyung Industrial Development, located in Uichang-gu, Changwon, is an apartment construction developer with cumulative sales of 1 trillion won since 2008. The company participated alone in the fourth public offering for Masan Marine New City in 2021 but was eliminated as a preferred negotiation partner for failing to meet the minimum score.
Afterward, claiming to have been subjected to unfair scoring and evaluation, the company filed an administrative lawsuit against Changwon City, losing in the first trial but winning in both the appellate court and the Supreme Court.
Changwon City has announced that, in accordance with the court ruling, it will conduct a reevaluation of the private business operator who applied in the fourth public offering.
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