Private-sector members who review building and civil engineering permits at major local governments across South Korea have been appointed to committees in multiple jurisdictions at the same time, with one expert serving as a review member in as many as nine local governments. The overlap has prompted calls for a management system to prevent review authority from concentrating in the hands of a few individuals.
A cross-analysis by The Seoul Economic Daily of building committee and joint urban planning and architecture committee rosters at more than 30 local governments — including Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, Busan, Daegu and Daejeon — found 27 people listed as review members in three or more jurisdictions, the paper reported on the 25th. In the fields of temporary structures, civil engineering and structural design in particular, some individuals were found to have been appointed as review members at five to nine local governments.
Local governments restrict concurrent appointments to committees in other jurisdictions through ordinances and other rules, aiming to prevent review authority from concentrating in specific members. The limits vary by locality but generally cap service at three to five committees. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission has also recommended such restrictions to ensure fairness in reviews and reduce the potential for conflicts of interest.
Committee composition and operating standards differ from one local government to another, however, and no integrated management system exists that would allow officials to check appointment records in other regions. That makes it difficult to verify whether a candidate is already serving elsewhere during the appointment process, critics say. Determining whether any ordinance was actually violated would require further verification of each locality's limits and the terms of appointment. If a single expert repeatedly takes part in reviews across multiple local governments, judgments on individual projects could end up resting with a small number of members. Procedures for checking whether members have any interest in the projects under review also become more important.
In temporary structure civil engineering design and underground safety, complaints and suspicions have been raised over the adoption of specific patented construction methods. According to industry sources, fact-finding has been conducted on issues including whether the use of particular methods was appropriate in some large-scale projects.
Building and civil engineering reviews are procedures for examining construction safety and the adequacy of designs. Because reviews can involve discussion of whether to apply a specific construction method, the objectivity of evaluation standards matters alongside the expertise of the members. It is difficult to conclude, however, that concurrent appointments themselves have led to favoritism toward particular companies or improper reviews.
Review members at local governments qualify as private individuals performing public duties under the anti-graft law. Management is therefore needed to prevent improper solicitation or the acceptance of money and valuables during the review process. Local governments also need to verify whether limits on concurrent appointments were observed when members were appointed.
Experts stress the need to establish a system for sharing appointment records among local governments and to improve transparency in review procedures.
"Building and civil engineering permit reviews involve a high degree of public authority, yet leaving specific technical personnel free to cross the country abusing review powers is a clear dereliction of duty by the responsible government ministry and local governments," said Shin Young-chul, head of the national projects monitoring unit at the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice. "The extent of collusion between local government officials and review members must be thoroughly uncovered, and fundamental measures such as a computerized cross-verification system must be put in place without delay."