Special Counsel Seeks Arrest Warrant for Board of Audit and Inspection Member Yoo Byeong-ho Over Alleged Interference in Presidential Residence Audit

The 2nd Comprehensive Special Counsel team, led by Kwon Chang-young, which is investigating remaining allegations following the third special counsel, has moved to secure an arrest warrant for Yoo Byeong-ho, a member of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) who holds a vice-ministerial level position, over allegations of improper interference in the audit of the presidential residence.
The special counsel team announced on July 14 that it has requested an arrest warrant for Yoo on charges of abuse of power.
Yoo is accused of improperly intervening to downplay and cover up the results of an audit regarding the relocation of the presidential residence while serving as the Secretary-General of the BAI during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
After taking office, former President Yoon Suk-yeol relocated the presidential office to the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan and the official residence to the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs minister's residence.
Subsequently, various suspicions were raised regarding the selection process for construction firms and construction costs, leading to an audit initiated after People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and others filed for a public audit in October 2022.
After approximately two years of investigation, the BAI released an audit report in September 2024 titled "Audit Report on Illegalities Related to the Relocation of the Presidential Office and Residence and Cost Usage."
The report stated that the residence relocation construction was carried out without contracts based on detailed project plans, and that 15 out of the 18 subcontractors that participated in the project under the interior design firm '21gram' were unqualified companies not registered for the relevant construction work.
However, the report did not specifically clarify the circumstances behind the selection of construction companies, which was the starting point of the controversy, leading to criticism of a "shoddy audit."
The special counsel team believes that Yoo provided "guidelines" to the audit team regarding how to conduct the investigation and the procedures for requesting documents.
It was found that although the audit team had originally sent out documents to conduct face-to-face interviews with officials from construction-related companies, Yoo ordered them to withdraw these requests and switch to written inquiries.
The special counsel team also understands that there were instructions to make requests to the Presidential Office verbally rather than through official documents, and to refrain from conducting face-to-face interviews with Presidential Office officials.
The special counsel team applied charges of abuse of power, viewing these instructions from Yoo as an abuse of his authority as the BAI Secretary-General, which hindered the normal duties of the audit team.
Yoo is also suspected of being involved in the concealment and downplaying of the audit report's findings.
In its 2024 report, the BAI wrote that the Presidential Secretariat confirmed in May 2022 that the construction plans included a small-scale expansion, and requested that 21gram find a company qualified for the expansion work. The report stated that 21gram then requested Wondam General Construction, which held a general construction license, to participate in the expansion, and the work was carried out.
The BAI explained that "due to the tight completion schedule, the types of construction and the scope of work for each company could not be clearly specified in advance."
However, investigations revealed that 21gram was effectively in charge of the entire construction project, including not only the interior design but also the expansion work.
The special counsel team believes that 21gram used Wondam General Construction, which held a general construction license, to create a facade of legality, while 21gram, which lacked the qualifications for the construction, actually handled all the work.
The special counsel team believes that the BAI was aware of these facts during the audit process but intentionally hid them in the audit report, stating as if 21gram had only been responsible for the interior design work.
The special counsel team is also investigating whether there was any directive or pressure from Yoo in the process of drafting this false report.
21gram is a company that sponsored exhibitions hosted by Covana Contents, which was operated by Kim Keon-hee, and was in charge of the design and construction of the Covana Contents office. It is known that the head of the company has a close relationship with Kim.
Yoo denies all the allegations raised against him.
Appearing at the special counsel's office for questioning as a suspect on July 13, Yoo countered, "I determined that the relationship between 21gram and Wondam General Construction could not be legally viewed as lending a business license, and I included the basis for that in the audit report. Other violations of administrative regulations, such as the failure to approve subcontracting, were dealt with strictly, to an unusual degree."
He further argued, "The special counsel is taking a tiny fraction of the entire construction project, blowing it out of proportion, and making it an issue."
In addition, Yoo added that most of the allegations raised by the special counsel team occurred during the tenure of his successor as Secretary-General, and that all audit work was conducted through legitimate procedures.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.