Kim Taeyoung, CEO of 21gram: "Tatami was indeed laid on the second floor"
Testimony has emerged in the National Assembly that a Japanese-style tatami room and a hinoki bath (cypress bathtub) were installed at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, where former President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee stayed. Criticism has been raised that the Board of Audit and Inspection failed to properly investigate this during its audit of the residence relocation, and may have intentionally omitted it.
Previously, suspicions had been raised that former President Yoon and his wife used taxpayer money to install personal facilities such as a hinoki cypress bathtub at the residence. On October 16, Kim Tae-young, CEO of 21Gram, the interior company that effectively oversaw the 2022 expansion of the Hannam-dong residence, testified at the Board of Audit and Inspection’s parliamentary audit by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. In response to a question from Seo Young-kyo, a member of the Democratic Party, asking, "Did you install a tatami room during the construction of the residence?" Kim replied, "We did lay tatami (traditional Japanese flooring) on the second floor." To a follow-up question from Seo, Kim answered, "It was originally finished with wooden flooring, and later, tatami was added additionally."
Regarding his relationship with the First Lady, Kim said, "I have been a business partner for 10 years." On how his company came to be in charge of the residence construction, he explained, "The presidential office contacted us, we sent our company introduction, and then they asked if we could handle the residence construction," adding, "They did not tell me who recommended us." When asked by Seo whether 21Gram built both the hinoki bath and the tatami room, Kim replied, "Yes."
Seo Young-kyo revealed that a screen golf room, tatami room, and hinoki bath were installed in former President Yoon’s residence, stating, "Today, the true nature of Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Keon-hee has been fully exposed. Now we see why they were so close to Japan."
Seo then asked Choi Jae-hae, Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, whether these details were confirmed during the Board’s audit of the residence relocation construction. Choi responded, "During the first audit, it was a top-level security facility and the president was residing there, so I heard the audit was conducted only through documents," and added, "Since we could not visit the site, we did not visually confirm the matters you mentioned."
He continued, "At the time, the audit focused on whether the interior contractors were qualified and whether there were any illegal acts in the process," adding, "We did not focus on what materials were used or what was installed."
In relation to this, Park Eun-jung, a member of the National Innovation Party, stated that during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the presidential security service and the presidential office pushed for the construction of a secret passage for the former president’s commute. She said, "It was a secret passage construction project to conceal Yoon Suk-yeol’s late arrivals," and pointed out, "The Board of Audit and Inspection omitted this even while auditing the presidential office and residence construction."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
