Evaluation scores diverge by up to 23 points among reviewers

Conflict-of-interest allegations raised over vendor selection

Assembly member Kim Kwang-ho calls for documents on selection process

Incheon Tourism Organization [Photo = Lee Hong-seok]
Incheon Tourism Organization [Photo = Lee Hong-seok]

Allegations that a specific vendor has repeatedly won contracts from the Incheon Tourism Organization have drawn fire, raising questions about the fairness and transparency of public institution procurement.

The controversy deepened after it emerged that evaluation scores among reviewers diverged by as much as 23 points during the vendor selection process, casting doubt on the objectivity of the assessment criteria and the reliability of the results.

Kim Kwang-ho, an Assembly member on the Incheon Metropolitan Council's Culture and Welfare Committee representing Yeongjong-gu District 1, raised the issue at the Incheon Tourism Organization's 2026 administrative audit, held Monday as part of the 314th Incheon Metropolitan Council's second regular session.

Kim focused on whether a particular vendor had repeatedly won contracts and whether the evaluation process had been conducted fairly.

While public institutions are required to select service providers through competitive procedures and objective review, Kim said repeated awards to the same vendor — combined with wide gaps in reviewer scores — warranted a thorough examination of the entire selection process.

The audit specifically noted that score differences among evaluators reached up to 23 points in the case at hand.

Whether evaluators had any personal interest in the winning vendor, and whether penalty criteria for proposals were applied consistently across all bidders, also emerged as key points of contention.

Kim called for the submission of related documents — including the list of evaluator candidates, selection records, review materials and audit reports — saying it was necessary to verify whether disqualification and recusal procedures had been properly followed during the evaluator selection process.

Kim Hwa-don, head of the Incheon Tourism Organization's Sangsang Platform Business Division, said the organization had followed evaluator selection and recusal procedures, and that neither an internal audit nor an on-site inspection by Incheon city had found evidence of improper contract steering.

However, Kim Hwa-don stated that additional explanation was needed regarding the penalty criteria applied to proposals.

Despite the organization's response, the controversy is far from resolved. Whether a specific vendor repeatedly won contracts, the extent of score disparities among reviewers, and the appropriateness of how penalty criteria were applied are each issues that require separate verification.

Critics say that simply stating no wrongdoing was found in internal and on-site audits is insufficient to address lingering questions about individual vendors' contract records, the structure of bidding competition, and the suitability of the evaluator panel's composition.

Assembly member Choe Jae-hyeon, representing Namdong-gu District 6, also expressed concern over the score disparities and the vendor selection controversy, saying the tourism organization needed to treat the matter with greater seriousness.

The same audit session also raised concerns about the management of the Sangsang Platform, a facility operated by the Incheon Tourism Organization.

Choe said recurring litigation with tenants at the Sangsang Platform should not be blamed solely on the tenants, and called on the organization, as the operator, to examine the root causes of the disputes and develop effective measures to revitalize the facility.

Choe also called for the submission of review materials related to qualitative and quantitative evaluations, and for active management of key pending issues to prevent disruption caused by the vacancy in the organization's top leadership post.

The tourism organization said it would submit the relevant documents and ensure there was no administrative gap before a new president takes office.


gilbert@heraldcorp.com