Will Goyang City Hall Relocation to Baekseok Gain Momentum? "Board of Audit and Inspection Finds No Procedural Issues"

Board of Audit and Inspection Confirms "No Violations," Closes Public Audit
Final Resolution to Goyang City Hall Baekseok Relocation Dispute
All Five Public Audit Requests by Goyang City Council Concluded
City to Develop Plans for Future Use of Baekseok Office Building

The long-awaited and contentious project to relocate the Goyang Special City Hall to the Baekseok Office Building in Goyang Special City, Gyeonggi Province, has received final administrative legitimacy from the Board of Audit and Inspection. As a result, various legal disputes that had arisen over the relocation are expected to be resolved.

Goyang Special City Hall Baekseok Office Building. Provided by Goyang Special City

On January 23, Goyang Special City announced that on the 16th, it had been notified by the Board of Audit and Inspection that all five public interest audit requests submitted by the city council regarding the relocation of the city hall were found to be "either not in violation of the law or not subject to audit."

Previously, in September last year, during its 297th extraordinary session, the Goyang City Council had requested a public interest audit from the Board of Audit and Inspection concerning the "8th popularly elected Goyang City Hall Baekseok Office Building Relocation." The five items in the request included: △ procedural illegality in the relocation announcement, △ early conclusion of the Baekseok Office Building donation litigation, △ establishment of a mortgage after lifting provisional seizure related to the lawsuit, △ unfairness of the specific audit on the previous construction project, and △ use of reserve funds for the feasibility study of the relocation project.

In response, the Board of Audit and Inspection notified its findings on the 16th, dismissing three items-relocation announcement procedures, early conclusion of the donation litigation, and mortgage establishment-on the grounds that there was no illegality. The remaining two items, concerning the results of the specific audit and the use of reserve funds for the feasibility study, were rejected as not subject to audit, thereby closing all five cases.

This means that all five items raised by the city council were found to have no legal issues or are no longer subject to further scrutiny.

In particular, the city views the Board of Audit and Inspection’s closure of the public interest audit request as a resolution of legal uncertainties surrounding the overall administration of using the Baekseok Office Building as the city hall, following the Board’s decision in October last year that there were no procedural violations in the departmental relocation to the Baekseok Office Building.

Some within and outside the city government have commented that this outcome was already anticipated, as the audit request was submitted to the plenary session and passed, despite having been rejected by the Construction and Transportation Committee, the relevant standing committee.

A Goyang Special City official stated, "Goyang is currently facing challenging economic conditions both internally and externally, making administrative efficiency and fiscal soundness more important than ever. We hope that, based on the results of this audit, we can put an end to unproductive debates and that the city and city council will continue constructive discussions so that the Baekseok Office Building can serve as a central administrative space for citizens."