Yoo Byung-ho, a senior auditor at the Board of Audit and Inspection, arrives at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu on July 20 for a pretrial detention hearing after an arrest warrant was sought against him on charges of abuse of authority. [Yonhap]
Yoo Byung-ho, a senior auditor at the Board of Audit and Inspection, arrives at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu on July 20 for a pretrial detention hearing after an arrest warrant was sought against him on charges of abuse of authority. [Yonhap]

The second comprehensive special prosecutor's team — tasked with investigating allegations left unresolved after three earlier special counsel probes into insurrection, Kim Keon Hee and the Marine Corps corporal case — has indicted Yoo Byung-ho, former secretary general of the Board of Audit and Inspection and current senior auditor, on charges of suppressing an audit into the relocation of the presidential residence during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

The special prosecutor's team said Friday it indicted Yoo on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights.

According to the team, Yoo communicated with the Presidential Secretariat — the very body under audit — and, acting on requests received from the secretariat, abused his supervisory authority as secretary general to obstruct auditors' independent audit rights and compel them to perform acts outside their duties around February and March 2023.

Specifically, the team said Yoo issued unlawful and improper directives prohibiting auditors from requesting documents from the Presidential Secretariat through official correspondence, banning question-and-answer investigations of secretariat officials, and barring in-person investigations of contractor-related individuals. The team also concluded that after taking office as secretary general, Yoo used his personnel and inspection powers to consolidate control over the Board of Audit and Inspection.

The presidential residence relocation allegations center on the selection of 21 Grams — a company without a general construction license — as a contractor during the relocation of the presidential residence after the Yoon administration took office. The company had sponsored exhibitions held by Covana Contents, of which first lady Kim Keon Hee had served as chief executive, raising suspicions that Kim had been involved in the contractor selection.

In October 2022, a civic group filed a public audit request with the Board of Audit and Inspection over the relocation allegations. In September 2024, the board released an audit report acknowledging that all contractor selections had been made through discretionary contracts, but said it was difficult to conclude that any legal violations had occurred. The findings prompted allegations of a shoddy audit.

Meanwhile, the special prosecutor's team also indicted former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-gi and former Presidential Office Administrative Secretary Yoon Jae-soon in custody, and former Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and former Presidential Office Management Secretary Kim O-jin without detention, on charges of illegally diverting funds during the presidential residence relocation process.


bell@heraldcorp.com