Allegations of rebates surrounding the Hangang Bus project came under scrutiny during the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government today (the 15th).

The suspicions involve suspicious fund flows orchestrated by a broker out of the project funds disbursed to Gadeok Heavy Industries, the manufacturer of the Hangang Bus, with allegations that part of the money may have flowed to a high-ranking official at Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH).

The claims also included that these findings were reported to Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, yet no request for a police investigation was made and related documents were even destroyed.

Introducing these allegations, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Joo-min stated, "If true, this goes beyond mere project fund corruption and could become a case of an administrative cover-up of the truth," adding, "Given the circumstances, it seems we cannot rule out the possibility that Mayor Oh Se-hoon was involved."

In response, Mayor Oh explained, "I received a report [related to this] around September 2025, and at the time, I instructed that the matter be investigated strictly enough to order the drafting of an investigation request." He added, "We also considered requesting an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection to conduct an objective review of the overall situation."

He continued, "We actually proceeded with the audit request before requesting an investigation, believing that the Board of Audit and Inspection would look into the allegations as well," and added, "However, the Board of Audit and Inspection dismissed the audit request, and since then, the [Seoul Metropolitan Government's] Audit Committee has been conducting a thorough investigation into the matter. We plan to request an investigation if necessary."

(Photo: Yonhap News)