Statement issued under spokesperson's name

'We sought audit, conducted probe, referred case to police'

A Han River ferry in service. [Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government]
A Han River ferry in service. [Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Sunday called on the Democratic Party of Korea to stop what it described as "baseless political attacks" over allegations surrounding the Han River ferry project.

In a statement issued under the name of spokesperson Ho Jun-seok, the city said the Democratic Party was "deliberately undermining Seoul's efforts to get to the truth while ignoring even the most basic facts."

The city said it had "proactively filed a public interest audit request with the Board of Audit and Inspection as early as Oct. 2 last year, and continued conducting dozens of its own investigations — including document requests, on-site inspections, interviews with those involved, and phone calls — right up until the national audit in October, even after the request was dismissed."

It added that on Friday it had "formally referred the case to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and agreed to provide all relevant materials," saying that accusations of "delaying the investigation for a year" while ignoring this entire process amounted to nothing more than "political agitation."

At the National Assembly's audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government by the Public Administration and Security Committee on Thursday, Democratic Party lawmakers raised allegations that suspicious money flows involving a broker had been detected in project funds paid to the Han River ferry manufacturer, with some of that money potentially having been channeled to a senior official at the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation.

Responding to criticism that the city had failed to include allegations of a 320 million won ($237,000) kickback in its audit request, the city said it "did its utmost to ensure an active and objective investigation, including proactively deciding to request a Board of Audit and Inspection audit after becoming aware of the allegations at the time."

It went on to say that "rather than treating unverified allegations as established fact, we sought the judgment of an independent audit body on the full range of suspected irregularities — including the contractor selection process, delays in vessel construction, and cost overruns."

On allegations that misconduct had been concealed or that investigation materials had been ordered destroyed, the city said it expected the Democratic Party to "first present specific and objective grounds," adding that "labeling unproven allegations with the inflammatory tag of 'gate' does not make them true."

Spokesperson Ho said the city had "no intention of covering up any allegations of misconduct" and would "cooperate with investigative authorities by providing all relevant materials so that the facts and accountability can be thoroughly established."

The city had also released a related explanatory statement on Thursday. It said the Seoul Audit Committee had reported the allegations to Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Sept. 9 last year, at which point Oh had simultaneously ordered preparations for both a Board of Audit and Inspection request and a police referral.

The audit committee drafted a referral document in accordance with that instruction, which remains on file. However, it determined that the circumstances at the time were insufficient to warrant a formal police referral and instead recommended to Oh that an audit request be submitted to the Board of Audit and Inspection.

A public interest audit was subsequently requested from the Board of Audit and Inspection in October last year, but the board dismissed it, saying the matter appeared to be "something the city's own audit body could handle directly." The city's audit committee is now conducting its own investigation and said it would refer the case to investigators if necessary.


jiyun@heraldcorp.com