The Gangwon governor race has escalated into a flurry of criminal complaints. Woo Sang-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea reported Kim Jin-tae of the People Power Party to police on suspicion of violating the Public Official Election Act by publishing false information, and Kim filed a counter-complaint against Woo for false accusation.
The exchange of complaints began after Kim said during a TV debate on the 11th that Woo had, in the past while serving in the National Assembly, "argued for pushing the Chuncheon–Sokcho east–west high-speed rail as a private investment project." Woo, however, said he "pointed out the process of changing the project to a fiscal project."
The east–west high-speed rail is a long-cherished project for Gangwon Province. It first appeared as a campaign pledge by former President Roh Tae-woo in the 1987 presidential election and has since become a staple pledge in presidential and general elections. As for how to pursue it, both private investment and fiscal projects were discussed, but the Gangwon region consistently called for a fiscal project funded by national and local government budgets. That is because if private capital is used, fares would inevitably be set higher. After much discussion, it was finalized as a fiscal project, and construction is now underway.
ChosunBiz reviewed a 4-hour-and-27-minute video and minutes containing Woo's 2016 remarks as a lawmaker that sparked the exchange of complaints, along with a press release from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport that he cited as the basis.
◇ Chuncheon–Sokcho east–west high-speed rail "private investment"… mentioned by Woo in the National Assembly
On July 13, 2016, at the House Steering Committee held in the National Assembly, candidate Woo Sang-ho raised budget issues related to the relocation of Daegu Airport and mentioned the words "high-speed rail" and "private investment." In the committee video recorded at the time, at around the 49-minute mark Woo said, "On the issue of laying a high-speed rail to Sokcho, the relevant ministries reported to the National Assembly that 'it would be better to do it with private investment than with fiscal spending.' But when the president said to use fiscal spending, they announced they would switch back to fiscal spending."
In response, Ahn Jong-beom, then senior presidential secretary for policy coordination, who attended the House Steering Committee, said, "The high-speed rail between Chuncheon and Sokcho had been under review for a long time, and there had been discussions about doing it with state funds," adding, "So we conducted a preliminary feasibility study for a long period."
Woo then said, "You also came to the National Assembly last time and said you would use fiscal spending. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it would do it with private investment, but can it be changed in a month or two just because the president criticized it?"
◇ The east–west high-speed rail, for which a private investment project was "reviewed"… withdrawn after five days
Why did candidate Woo make this argument at the time? He based it on a press release from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. As answers continued that a private investment project had never been pursued, he brought the related materials to the House Steering Committee. At about 1 hour and 10 minutes into the video, Woo said, "The senior presidential secretary for policy said there had been no announcement (on a private investment plan for the east–west high-speed rail), but I saw the materials, so I went down and brought them back."
A review of the MOLIT materials Woo cited shows that the east–west high-speed rail had been included among private investment review targets. On July 6, 2016, a week before the House Steering Committee convened, the ministry outlined a plan for "measures to invigorate private investment railroad projects" at the Fiscal Strategy Meeting. The idea was to review possible private-sector participation for a total of 14 railroad construction projects that had stalled due to fiscal limits. These included the 94-kilometer Chuncheon–Sokcho line, the east–west high-speed rail.
However, the ministry's position is that it was only a "review" target, not a decision to use private investment. In fact, the ministry withdrew the private investment review plan after five days. On July 11, 2016, the ministry said, "The east–west high-speed rail project has passed the preliminary feasibility study by the Korea Development Institute (KDI)," adding, "To ensure prompt implementation, we will first review pursuing it as a fiscal project."
Kim Jin-tae's camp argues that Woo effectively opposed the fiscal project, saying Woo kept raising issues with the decision to inject fiscal funds into the east–west high-speed rail project at the time.
Woo's camp, however, says "there was never any push for a private investment project." They cited Woo's remark that "this was also a pledge by Moon Jae-in, and because our party argued for a fiscal project, we welcome the decision to make it a fiscal project." In the actual steering committee minutes, there is no remark by Woo saying it "should be a private investment project."