"Audit on Statistical Manipulation Targeted Moon-era Policy Chief and Land Minister"... Choi Jae-hae and Yoo Byung-ho Investigation Materials Sent to Prosecutors

[Financial News] The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) concluded on the 27th that, in its audit of state statistics conducted under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, it had "abused its audit authority, a state power, as a coercive tool to target senior officials of the previous administration." The BAI also said it found evidence of a "tailored investigation" designed to secure desired testimony, aggressive requests for a prosecution probe without verifying evidence consistency, and the transfer of illegally collected copies of personal mobile phones to prosecutors. The BAI sent investigation reference materials on 10 related figures, including former BAI chief Choi Jae-hae, BAI commissioner Yoo Byung-ho, and former secretary general Choi Dal-young, to the National Office of Investigation.
The BAI announced the findings of its task force on follow-up measures to the parliamentary inquiry special committee on the day. The task force was formed after allegations surfaced during the National Assembly's inquiry in April that the audit on "the production and use of major national statistics" and the review related to the "West Sea civil servant killing case" involved coercive questioning, abuse of digital forensics, and evidence mismatches in the prosecution request. The task force said it interviewed 32 audited individuals and cross-checked materials such as recordings and notebooks.
The BAI determined that, during the statistics audit, auditors used high-pressure language to force false statements, including testimony that would satisfy instructions from above, and in some cases wrote down answers that the audited parties had never given. It also said forensics were carried out on personal mobile phones without meeting the required conditions, infringing on the right to participate in the process and collecting private information unrelated to the audit.
Specific instances of coercion were also confirmed. Over 41 of the 77 days on which officials from the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport were questioned, auditors engaged in high-pressure language, false entries in question-and-answer records, forced testimony, and restrictions on the opportunity to explain. One auditor was found to have told an official at the presidential office, "I became an auditor to punish people like you who manipulate statistics."
Another auditor reportedly said, "This audit is being conducted on the premise of a prosecution investigation" and added, "This audit is aimed at the policy chief and the land minister. Put simply, it is Jeongmyeonggado," while demanding cooperation. The term refers to a historical episode during the Imjin War, when Japan asked Joseon to "lend a road" so it could march against the Ming dynasty. In other words, the auditors are understood to have stressed that the audited individuals were not the final target, while pressing them for testimony about senior officials such as the policy chief and the land minister.
The BAI also said its own evidence-review system was effectively disabled during the process of requesting a prosecution probe. According to the findings, the audit team drafted allegations based on evidence collected through coercive questioning and on speculative testimony from third parties that had not been confirmed by the parties involved, then requested a probe without going through an evidence consistency review.
The investigation classified a total of 220 cases in which the request for a probe and the evidence did not match or were insufficient. There were 51 cases of evidence inconsistency, including citations of deleted, altered, or nonexistent testimony, or descriptions that differed from the actual statements. Another 169 cases involved insufficient evidence, such as speculative testimony without confirmation from the parties involved or instances where contradictory evidence was excluded. Of these, 66 were classified as "confirmed cases" after fact-checking and explanations from the relevant parties, while 154 were labeled "suspected cases" based on the task force's own review.
It was also confirmed that copies of personal mobile phones collected illegally were provided to prosecutors. The BAI said it had retained materials gathered in violation of due process instead of discarding them, and then voluntarily handed them over during a search and seizure operation even though they were not among the items subject to seizure, thereby bypassing the warrant principle.

Problems involving coercive questioning and forensics were also identified in the audit of the West Sea civil servant killing case. The BAI said auditors had tried to get the audited party to withdraw a legitimate request to record the session, and made remarks intended to cause discomfort, such as, "Seeing that you hired a lawyer, it seems you think there are many things that could be crimes." The BAI also said it found that forensic copies that should have been discarded were kept and later provided during a prosecution search and seizure.
The BAI sent investigation reference materials on 10 people, including former chief Choi, commissioner Yoo, and former secretary general Choi, to the National Office of Investigation in connection with the statistics audit and the West Sea audit. It also filed complaints against nine members of the statistics audit team on charges including abuse of authority, obstruction of official duties by deception, and falsification of official documents. For 10 people, including one director involved in the statistics audit, it requested disciplinary action at the level of dismissal or removal from office.
[email protected] Sung Seok-woo Reporter