The Democratic Party of Korea escalated its attack on the Seoul Metropolitan Government over alleged kickbacks and a suppressed internal audit tied to the city's Han River Bus service, demanding that investigators examine whether Mayor Oh Se-hoon was involved. With the project now facing accusations that officials tried to cover up misconduct on top of earlier criticism over mismanagement, the party pressed the mayor to disclose all related records and submit to an independent investigation.
Han Byung-do, the party's floor leader, told a supreme council meeting at the Busan city chapter on the 16th that "the allegations of a cover-up over Han River Bus misconduct revealed in yesterday's parliamentary audit of the Seoul city government were, in a word, shocking." He said that beyond the dispute over mismanagement of a service that "has effectively been reduced to a tourist cruise," allegations have emerged that an internal audit into signs of kickbacks was also quashed.
Han pointed out that the Seoul city audit commission had identified suspected misconduct related to a contract with a shipbuilding company and had even drafted a request for a criminal investigation. "After it was reported to Mayor Oh Se-hoon, the investigation request was never filed, and an order suddenly came down to destroy all the investigative records," he said. "If true, this is a Han River Bus scandal aimed at burying misconduct."
"It must be established who halted the investigation request and ordered the destruction of records, and why," he said. "We must thoroughly determine whether the Han River Bus, which was supposed to serve as transportation for citizens, instead became a means of lining someone's pockets."
He again rejected Oh's explanation that the city had first pursued an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection. "That alone cannot sidestep all the allegations now being raised," Han said, urging the city to "disclose every related document and establish the truth through an independent investigation."
"The misconduct allegations and the circumstances of the cover-up must be laid bare in full, and whether the mayor himself was involved must be thoroughly established through investigation," he added.