Allegations of Hangang Bus Rebate Lead to Clash Between Cover-up Claims and Political Offensive

[Anchor]

During the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, allegations surfaced regarding a rebate scandal involving the Hangang Bus project. While the Democratic Party criticized the city government for allegedly covering up the corruption suspicions, the People Power Party and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon dismissed the accusations as politically motivated offensives built purely on suspicion.

Reporter Yun Nara has the details.

[Reporter]

The parliamentary audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government kicked off with a fierce battle over the alleged Hangang Bus rebates.

The allegations center on claims that the shipbuilding contractor for the Hangang Bus paid some 300 million won in brokerage fees to an unregistered brokerage firm, and that this money was funneled as a rebate to an executive at SH, a co-investing organization.

After learning of these suspicions in September of last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government requested an audit from the Board of Audit and Inspection, but the request was dismissed. The Democratic Party raised suspicions of a cover-up, questioning why the city failed to request a police investigation for over a year following the dismissal.

[Cho In-cheol / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Requesting an investigation right away would have been the proper course of action. The audit request appears to have been a move to sweep the corruption allegations under the rug.]

Mayor Oh Se-hoon explained that an investigation request could not be filed at the time due to a lack of evidence proving that a rebate had been handed over. However, he noted that the city conducted internal investigations 23 times and ultimately requested a police investigation following media reports last week.

[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul: (Democratic Party lawmakers) appear to be linking brokerage fees and rebates to deliver a distorted truth. I see this as a political offensive.]

A blame game also erupted over instability in the Seoul real estate market.

The Democratic Party criticized Mayor Oh's decision last year to lift land transaction permit zones in certain areas, arguing it added fuel to rising apartment prices.

[Jung Jong-tae / Democratic Party Lawmaker: The shift to rising housing prices, the lifting of the land transaction permit system, and the reversal just 35 days later were all decisions made by the Seoul Metropolitan Government before the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration.]

The People Power Party countered that policies of the Lee Jae-myung administration were to blame.

[Jung Dong-man / People Power Party Lawmaker: (The government) is implementing Lee Jae-myung-style loan regulations and tax system revisions, while demonizing multiple homeowners. These policies are further destabilizing the real estate market.]

Mayor Oh argued that former Mayor Park Won-soon's cancellation of urban renewal projects caused a shortage of apartment supply, adding that he will soon discuss supply measures with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

(Video by Joo Beom | Video Editing by Choi Jin-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.