Audit Request Filed for Tancheon Industrial Complex Despite Gongju City's Clarification That "It Is Not Illegal"

Dispute over permits involving external waste and odor standards... Six city council members and 300 citizens file public-interest audit request with the Board of Audit and Inspection

View of Gongju City Hall

On February 25, Gongju City in South Chungcheong Province stated, in relation to the controversy over permits for Company A in the Tancheon General Industrial Complex, that the matter "was handled in accordance with the current implementation plan and basic management plan and is therefore lawful."

Regarding the claim that the complex is an industrial complex where the entry of external waste is completely prohibited, the city explained, "The 2015 public notice (No. 2015-13) became null and void with the amended public notice in 2019 (No. 2019-85), and there is no provision in the subsequent public notice that completely bans the entry of external waste."

In particular, the city took the position that the only area within the complex where the treatment of external waste is restricted (not permitted) is Area A13, and that this is merely a sales condition for a specific lot, not a general regulation that applies to the entire industrial complex.

With respect to the restriction on the entry of "odor-generating companies" into Area A17, the city also stated that this is a management standard allowing occupancy if the complex odor level meets the criterion of 20 or less, and clarified that it is not a completely prohibited area.

The city added that, according to measurements taken on October 7, 2024, the complex odor level at the boundary of the site for the business in question was 8, thereby meeting the legal standard (20 or less).

On the suspicion that no amendment was made to the occupancy contract, the city explained that an occupancy contract was signed in January 2022 for an animal fat manufacturing business, and that an amended contract was signed in April 2023 following the addition of a single-ingredient feed manufacturing business.

The city further stated that a business closure report for the livestock product processing business was filed in February 2024, and a commencement-of-use report for the comprehensive waste recycling business was filed in March, in sequence, and that because there was no essential change in the type of business, this did not constitute a case requiring a separate amended contract.

On the allegation of overlapping permits, the city said, "The livestock product processing business (Food Sanitation Act, under the jurisdiction of South Chungcheong Province), the comprehensive waste recycling business (Waste Control Act, under the jurisdiction of Gongju City), and factory establishment and occupancy contracts (Industrial Cluster Development and Factory Establishment Act) are separate procedures under different laws."

The city also explained that the matter was received in July 2024 as a public-interest report by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, was investigated by the South Chungcheong Province Audit Committee and the commission, and, after the submission of materials for audit in February 2025, was closed internally without any separate request for disposition.

However, on February 11, six council members of the Democratic Party of Korea belonging to the Gongju City Council and about 300 citizens visited the Board of Audit and Inspection and filed a request for a public-interest audit, asking it to determine the legality of the "occupancy contracts and permitting procedures for the Tancheon General Industrial Complex in Gongju."

Previously, at a plenary session of the city council, the same agenda item had been voted down with 6 votes in favor and 6 votes against.

The petitioners presented as audit subjects alleged violations of the ban on the entry of external waste, violations of restrictions on the entry of odor-generating businesses, failure to implement amendments to occupancy contracts, overlapping permits, and suspicions of falsification of the business plan.

Depending on the determination of the Board of Audit and Inspection, the legality of the permitting administration for the Tancheon industrial complex is expected to be decided.