500 billion won project is Gangwon residents' top concern
Missteps could saddle residents with debt and hollow out Chuncheon's old downtown
Provincial office staff shown to be unaware of public disclosure obligations
Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province is drawing criticism for applying a double standard to residents' right to know — staying quiet when a stop-work order was issued on the new provincial office construction project but issuing a formal announcement when work resumed on the 500 billion won ($373 million) project.
Critics say the selective disclosure — publicizing what suits the province and suppressing what does not — reflects a dismissive attitude toward residents.
The relocation and construction project, sited in Goeun-ri near the Chuncheon tollgate on the outskirts of Chuncheon, was the same project for which the previous administration hastily held a completion ceremony ahead of the then-governor's re-election bid.
The project draws on 500 billion won in public funds and has been mired in controversy from the start. Allegations surfaced that the eighth elected administration rushed through public consultations to pad its record before elections. Questions were also raised about the fairness of the site-selection process — including the evaluation of multiple candidate sites and the choice of Goeun-ri — as well as the enormous cost involved. Related litigation is ongoing. Woo Sang-ho, the governor elected in the ninth round of local elections, had expressed reservations about the project even while campaigning.
Because the project consumes 500 billion won, it is a make-or-break factor for Gangwon Province's fiscal health. If it goes wrong, residents could be left under a mountain of debt.
Should construction press ahead without a settled plan to revitalize the downtown commercial district, the old city center near the current provincial office in Chuncheon will almost certainly collapse.
Many residents agree with analyses showing that building on the current office site could save as much as 150 billion won.
The project's developer and contractor conducted a preliminary artifact survey in June, as required before large-scale construction, and proceeded with work after completing the necessary procedures. On Sept. 1, artifacts were discovered at the site. Chuncheon, which received the report, issued a stop-work order on Sept. 2 to Gangwon Province and the project manager in accordance with Cultural Heritage Administration guidelines.
Yet neither Gangwon Province nor Chuncheon informed the public about the halt, despite the enormous amount of taxpayer money at stake.
By contrast, on Oct. 13, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province issued a press release announcing that 431 artifacts had been recovered, proper procedures completed and construction resumed. Nearly every media outlet covering the provincial office and Chuncheon City Hall ran the story, fulfilling residents' right to know.
The stop-work order that ran from Sept. 2 through Oct. 12 — 41 days in total — was, if anything, more significant news than the resumption, and residents should have been officially informed. The province, however, took no action to uphold the public's right to information.
When additional artifacts were subsequently discovered, Chuncheon issued another stop-work order on Wednesday.
Once again, Gangwon Province made no announcement — at least not as of the close of business Thursday.
Kim Jong-mun, head of the civic group Jungdo Bonbu, which filed the artifact report, said a staff member at the province's office relocation task force told him Thursday that the office had confirmed the discovery of additional artifacts on Tuesday and contacted the Cultural Heritage Administration by phone on Wednesday to verify the find before halting work.
The latest halt followed action by Jungdo Bonbu, which on Oct. 26 discovered 23 additional suspected buried cultural artifacts at the new office construction site, reported the find to Chuncheon, and on Tuesday formally requested emergency on-site inspections and preservation measures from both the Cultural Heritage Administration and Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province.
When asked about residents' constitutionally guaranteed right to know, a staff member at the province's office relocation task force said the office had "never even thought about" whether to issue a press release on the stop-work order, adding that "following procedure is what matters — a press release is not a mandatory requirement."
That view is widely seen as wrong. The renewed suspension of the provincial office relocation project — a development with decisive implications for Gangwon Province's fiscal position — ranks among the most significant public-interest matters the province could disclose, measured against the hundreds of public-information releases it and its municipalities put out every day. Legal experts have also weighed in, with many saying that suppressing information of this kind could constitute dereliction of duty.
There is also considerable opinion in legal circles that staying silent on matters of this nature could amount to dereliction of official duty.
abc@heraldcorp.com
