A clash erupted over the Hangang Bus rebate allegations even before the main questioning began during today's parliamentary audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government by the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee.

While Democratic Party lawmakers sharply criticized the city government over accusations of withholding data and delaying requests for police investigations, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon pushed back, calling it a political offensive and arguing that brokerage fees are different from rebates, with no clues pointing to money being delivered to Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH) employees.

Democratic Party lawmaker Cho In-cheol pointed out that his office had requested data related to the Hangang Bus rebate allegations, but the city refused to provide it under the pretext that an investigation was underway.

Lawmaker Cho stated that they have only secured some attached materials without drafting and implementation documents, urging, "If you cannot give us the drafting documents, you should at least give us the implementation documents."

In response, Mayor Oh replied, "I will review whether there is an obligation to submit them."

Lawmaker Huh Young of the same party also stated that not a single piece of data requested by his office had been submitted, demanding the submission of follow-up measures taken by the Seoul city government following the Board of Audit and Inspection's dismissal of the public interest audit request regarding the Hangang Bus in October of last year, records of reports made to the mayor, and lists of responsible departments and personnel.

Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Il-young pointed out, "The Seoul Metropolitan Government is hardly submitting any audit data," adding, "If you say it's difficult to submit because it's autonomous administrative work, why do we hold a parliamentary audit?"

Lawmaker Kim Nam-guk of the same party took issue with the fact that a company lacking ship-building experience and facilities manufactured the Hangang Bus, which is used by 700,000 citizens.

In particular, raising suspicions that an amount equivalent to 10% of the ship construction cost was paid as a rebate, he claimed, "This in itself serves as direct evidence that the construction was shoddy."

Lawmaker Kim emphasized that a precise explanation is needed regarding suspicions that the Seoul city government destroyed audit investigation data, and called for a thorough investigation into suspicions that the case had been virtually buried for a year following the data destruction.

He also pointed out that problems existed within SH itself regarding this incident.


Criticism was also raised regarding the explanation materials previously released by the Seoul city government concerning the Hangang Bus rebate suspicions.

Lawmaker Jung Il-young took issue with Seoul City Spokesperson Ho Jun-seok defining the parliamentary audit as a political offensive by the Democratic Party, protesting, "Did we come here to stage a political offensive?"

The response process of the Seoul city government from the time it became aware of the rebate suspicions to requesting a police investigation also came under fire.

Lawmaker Cho In-cheol argued, "The Seoul city government took no action whatsoever after the Board of Audit and Inspection dismissed the audit request on the same day, and only belatedly requested a police investigation last week after facing fierce criticism from ruling party lawmakers on the Public Administration and Security Committee," adding, "It makes me think that Seoul city might have induced the dismissal of the request by submitting shoddy materials to the Board of Audit and Inspection."

In response, Mayor Oh countered that the city has continuously investigated the related suspicions.

He explained that from July 23 to October 14, just before the Public Administration and Security Committee audit, the city conducted investigations and preparations through a total of 23 instances, including three data investigation requests, one on-site visit, four interviews with related parties, and telephone calls.

He added that the investigation details could not be disclosed during the Public Administration and Security Committee audit because the relevant data had not been compiled, and noted that interviews with SH senior officials continued until last month.

Mayor Oh also fought back against the Democratic Party's offensive surrounding the allegations, stating, "We view this as a political offensive."

In particular, regarding lawmaker Kim Nam-guk's characterization of the incident as a "1.5 billion won rebate case" during a previous procedural remark, Oh asked back, "It's truly absurd, where did 1.5 billion won come from?"

While acknowledging that the amount allocated to Gadeok Heavy Industries was slightly higher than that of other shipbuilders, Mayor Oh explained that how the funds were used must be verified through an investigation.

He emphasized that rebates and brokerage fees must be distinguished, stressing that paying brokerage fees is a common practice in the shipbuilding industry.

He stated that the brokerage fee identified at the time was 320 million won, and that he understood brokerage fees of around 1% are typically paid for small and medium-sized vessels.

He went on to question, "In this case (the Hangang Bus), it was 2%, and that's what raised suspicions. The brokerage fee itself is legal, so why call it a rebate?"

He drew a firm line, stating, "There is zero clue or evidence indicating that a rebate went to an employee of our SH Corporation."

In response, lawmaker Huh Young countered that Sungwoo E&C, which received the brokerage fee, is a company that has not registered as a marine brokerage business, arguing, "Since the fee went to a company not qualified to receive brokerage fees, it is illegal."

Mayor Oh fired back, "Whether 300 million won or 340 million won went in brokerage fees, wouldn't it be a rebate only if even a part of it went to an SH Corporation employee?" and added, "At this stage, do Democratic Party lawmakers have any clues showing that a rebate went to an SH Corporation employee? It is nothing more than suspicion."

Questions surrounding the destruction of audit data and the concealment of suspicions continued.

When People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jung-ja asked whether he had ever ordered the destruction or concealment of documents related to the Hangang Bus, Mayor Oh denied it, saying, "No."

Joo Jae-wan, former head of the investigation division at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, also answered regarding whether he had reported the investigation request document to Mayor Oh, stating, "To my recollection, I did not make a separate face-to-face report."

Mayor Oh stated that he requested a police investigation into the Hangang Bus rebate suspicions the day after the Public Administration and Security Committee audit, and that an SH executive linked to the suspicions was suspended from duties and relieved of his position on the same day.

(Photo: Yonhap News)