Audit Commissioner Yoo Byung-ho Faces Arrest Warrant Hearing Over Alleged Cover-up of Presidential Residence Relocation Audit

A court hearing has begun to determine whether to issue an arrest warrant for Yoo Byung-ho, a commissioner at the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), who is suspected of improperly interfering with an audit into the relocation of the presidential residence.
Judge Lee Jong-rok of the Seoul Central District Court began the pre-arrest interrogation (warrant review) for Commissioner Yoo at 10:00 a.m. today (July 20) to assess the necessity of his detention on charges of abuse of power.
Yoo, who arrived at the court around 9:40 a.m. today, did not respond to questions from reporters asking if he admitted to the allegations of overseeing a lenient audit regarding the presidential residence relocation, and proceeded directly into the courtroom.
Yoo is accused of improperly intervening to downplay or conceal the results of an audit regarding the relocation of the presidential office and 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 residence to the former official residence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Following the relocation, various allegations were raised regarding the selection process for construction contractors and construction costs, leading to an audit after People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and others requested a public audit in October 2022.
After a two-year audit, 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 Use of Expenses."
The report stated that the residence relocation construction was carried out without contracts based on detailed business plans, and that 15 out of the 18 subcontractors that participated in the construction 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 firms, which was the initial point of controversy, sparking criticism of a "substandard audit."
The special counsel team believes that Yoo provided "guidelines" to the audit team regarding the investigation methods and procedures for requesting documents.
It was found that although the audit team had originally sent documents to conduct in-person interviews with officials from construction-related companies, Yoo ordered them to withdraw the requests and switch to written inquiries.
It was also discovered that there were instructions to request materials from the Presidential Office verbally rather than through official documents, and to refrain from conducting in-person 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 obstructed 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 the 2024 report, the BAI wrote that the Presidential Secretariat confirmed in May 2022 that the construction plan drawings included small-scale expansion work, and requested 21gram to find a company qualified for expansion work. 21gram then requested Wondam General Construction, which holds a general construction license, to participate in the expansion work, according to the report.
The BAI explained that "the scale of work by type and the scope of tasks by company could not be clearly specified in advance due to tight completion schedules."
However, investigations revealed that 21gram effectively oversaw the entire construction process, including not only interior design but also expansion work at the time.
The special counsel team's investigation concluded that 21gram used Wondam General Construction, which had a general construction license, to create a facade of legality, while 21gram actually handled all the construction work without the proper qualifications.
The special counsel team believes that the BAI also identified these facts during the audit process but intentionally hid them in the audit report, recording it as if 21gram was only responsible for the interior design work.
21gram is known as a company that sponsored exhibitions hosted by Covana Contents, which was run by First Lady Kim Keon-hee, and handled the design and construction of the Covana Contents office; the CEO of the company is known to have a close relationship with the First Lady.
Yoo, however, denies all charges, claiming 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.
This request for an arrest warrant marks the 18th attempt by the special counsel team to detain a suspect; previously, 11 out of 17 arrest warrant requests were dismissed, resulting in a dismissal rate of 64.7 percent.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.