Dongducheon City Leaves 2.89 Billion Won Land Purchase Idle for Two Years
Board of Audit and Inspection Issues Warning Over Public Property Acquisition
An audit has revealed that Dongducheon City in Gyeonggi Province purchased the site of a former venereal disease control center for billions of won without any concrete business plan, and that the site has been left unused for several years.
According to the audit report on "Dongducheon City’s Management of Public Property Acquisitions," which was released by the Board of Audit and Inspection on December 26, Dongducheon City purchased the former venereal disease control center site for 2.89 billion won in February 2023.
The main issue is that at the time of the purchase, there was no detailed business plan or budget estimate for how the site would be used. Under relevant laws, a clear purpose and intended use must be established when acquiring major assets. However, immediately after the mayor took office in July 2022 and ordered a review, the city proceeded swiftly with the purchase process alone. As a result, the site has remained completely unused for two years and four months since the acquisition.
Administrative disregard for proper procedures was also repeated during the construction of the senior citizens’ center and the center for the disabled. In pursuing this project, which totaled 20.029 billion won, the city failed to properly carry out the mandatory "architectural planning" process.
The audit found that the department in charge had already designated a specific site as the "planned construction site" before even considering the potential for using existing buildings or alternative locations. It was also revealed that, out of concern for potential legal issues, the city later commissioned a formal study as a mere formality to retroactively justify the process.
The "local financial investment review," which is meant to verify the feasibility of fiscal investment projects, proved to be completely ineffective. The city submitted projects for review that were not even eligible because they had not been included in the medium-term local fiscal plan.
In particular, during the review of the purchase of the venereal disease control center site, it was discovered that two professors from the university under the school foundation that owned the land participated as review committee members. Although they should have been disqualified, they took part in the review and gave a "suitable" opinion. Even without their participation, there would not have been enough members to meet the quorum, but the review proceeded regardless.
The Board of Audit and Inspection issued an institutional warning to Dongducheon City and took steps to urge three public officials involved in the improper handling of the work to be cautioned.
A representative of a civic group stated, "Disregarding legal procedures and wasting taxpayers’ money simply because it was the mayor’s campaign pledge is a serious case of administrative tyranny," and emphasized, "There must be a prompt plan for utilizing the neglected site and measures to prevent a recurrence."
An official from Dongducheon City said, "We humbly accept the audit results and will strictly comply with relevant laws and improve administrative transparency when acquiring public property in the future," adding, "We plan to demolish the venereal disease control center and proceed with development according to the original purpose, in conjunction with the Soyo Mountain development project."
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