Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayor, said on the 17th regarding the Board of Audit and Inspection's audit results on the "Hangang Bus," "The audit began with claims of favoritism, irregularities, and corruption involving the boat manufacturer, but these suspicions have been cleanly resolved."
Meeting with reporters after visiting the construction site for long-term jeonse housing near Singil Station in Yeongdeungpo-gu on the morning of the same day, Oh said of the Board of Audit and Inspection's Hangang Bus audit results, "It was revealed that there were no suspicions in the operator selection process, nor were any benefits given to the company building the boats."
Earlier, on the 16th, the Board of Audit and Inspection released the results of its audit related to the Hangang Bus and the development of the Yeouido dock. The findings stem from an audit launched at the National Assembly's request in Nov. 2024. The Board of Audit and Inspection said it is difficult to view the Seoul Metropolitan Government as having granted excessive favoritism to a particular company in the process of contracting for Hangang Bus vessel construction. It also judged that, with respect to the "Great Hangang," a new version of the Hangang Renaissance project, it is difficult to conclude there were unlawful or improper acts in operator selection and management/supervision or that the city failed to fulfill its responsibilities.
However, the Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out that the Hangang Bus vessels do not meet the standard speed released by the city and that there are problems with the method of calculating total project expense and analyzing economic feasibility.
In response to the criticism about failing to meet the standard speed, Oh said, "Experts acknowledge that Korea's technology for building small vessels and fishing boats is not at a world-class level, and we only found out after taking over that it would be difficult to reach the released speed of 17 knots."
Regarding the remaining issues, Oh said, "When assessing the economic feasibility of building an expressway, are there cases where the purchase cost of the vehicles that run on it is included in the analysis?" He added, "We conveyed that the economic feasibility should be evaluated focusing on the expense of building the dock, but it seems the Board of Audit and Inspection did not adopt that view."
Lee Min-kyoung, the Seoul Metropolitan Government Spokesperson, also issued a statement the same day, saying, "As for the Board of Audit and Inspection audit requested by the Democratic Party of Korea, the 'favoritism in selecting the shipbuilder for the Hangang Bus' was clearly confirmed as 'no unlawful or improper acts.'"
Lee, the Spokesperson, said, "The Democratic Party should no longer use audit measures as a political tool."