Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said on the 29th regarding the delay of the Han River bus, which is set to officially start operations in September, that he "will conduct a strong audit."
During the Seoul City Assembly's 332nd special session question and answer period, Mayor Oh responded to a query from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Young-sil, who said, "A new company without experience is building the vessels to be deployed for the Han River bus, causing delays in production and increasing expenses."
He also stated, "I intend to clearly reveal who is responsible and how a problematic company was selected at that time."
Mayor Oh remarked, "The staff in the middle may have wanted to change companies, but I received reports indicating that changing companies would only increase the time and expenses, so they had no choice but to endure it."
He added, "I accepted it as a rational judgment at the time, and once this project is completed, I will conduct a thorough audit of the entire process."
The Han River bus is a water-based public transport system that operates between seven terminals: Magok, Mangwon, Yeouido, Jamwon, Oksoo, Ttukseom, and Jamsil. The Seoul City planned to officially start operations last October, but the construction and delivery of the vessels intended for the Han River bus were delayed, pushing the official launch to September of this year. Currently, two vessels are in trial operation.