12 Council Members and 3 Secretariat Staff Under Police Investigation
Refunded 40 Million Won in Travel Expenses Also Used for Trip
Police: "Misuse of Budget and Possible Prior Collusion Under Review"
Members of the Gwangju Bukgu Council are under police investigation for allegedly misusing budget funds, including purchasing Onnuri gift certificates worth tens of millions of won with public overseas travel expenses.
On September 5, the Gwangju Bukbu Police Station announced that it had launched a preliminary investigation into 15 individuals, including 12 council members and 3 council secretariat staff, for purchasing Onnuri gift certificates with overseas travel funds.
They are suspected of using approximately 40 million won provided by the council secretariat for an official overseas trip to Tokyo, Japan, in July to purchase Onnuri gift certificates, thereby using the budget for purposes other than travel expenses. It was also found that around 4 million won from the refund of the gift certificates was used for travel expenses. The police consider this to constitute embezzlement.
The police plan to formally book those involved on charges of breach of trust or embezzlement if evidence of legal violations emerges after summoning them for questioning. In addition, the police will investigate an employee of the travel agency operated by an acquaintance of one of the participating council members.
An official from the Bukbu Police Station stated, "Although the purchased Onnuri gift certificates were paid to the travel agency as travel expenses, the very act of purchasing the gift certificates constitutes using the budget for purposes other than its original intent. We will also investigate whether there was any prior collusion among the council members."
Choi Moosong, Chair of the Bukgu Council, explained, "We purchased the Onnuri gift certificates as travel expenses after consulting with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Election Commission. The refunded money was intended to be donated, but since the donation was not made, it was recently returned to the council secretariat."
The trip included Chair Choi Moosong, Vice Chair Lim Jongguk, and council members Ko Youngim, Han Yangim, Lee Sookhee, Kim Youngsoon, Kim Geonan, Kang Sunghoon, Hwang Yewon, Jeong Dalseong, Jeong Jaeseong, and Kim Hyungsoo.
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