Jeong Won-oh’s ‘Cancún Trip’ Residents’ Audit Extended Again... Through October for Legal Review

[Financial News] The Seoul residents’ audit into former Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Won-oh’s official overseas trip to Cancún, United Mexican States, has been extended again. The audit will continue for nearly four months from its launch in June after issues requiring additional legal review were identified.
According to Seoul officials and other sources on the 4th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government Citizen Audit Ombudsman Committee decided on the 22nd of last month to extend the residents’ audit into Jeong’s 2023 official overseas trip by one month, from September 23 to October 23. The audit began on June 25.
The committee cited the need for legal review of issues raised during the audit, along with additional examination to improve the report’s completeness, as the reasons for the extension. The audit, which was originally scheduled to conclude last month, is therefore expected to continue through late this month. 
The audit began after Seongdong District residents requested an investigation into Jeong’s official overseas trip to the United Mexican States in February and March 2023. There are 210 valid petitioners. The audit covers administrative procedures and the execution of the trip as a whole, including preparation of the trip review resolution, the subsequent addition of signatures, budget execution, personnel matters involving accompanying employees, and the trip report.
One issue concerns an incorrect gender entry in the trip review resolution. An accompanying female employee was listed as "male," and the petitioners argued that the drafting process needed to be examined because no similar error had been found in other documents from Jeong’s trips.
Questions were also raised over allegations that the review committee members’ signatures were added to the resolution at a later date. The petitioners claim that a document released in response to a freedom-of-information request at the end of 2023 did not contain the signatures of the five committee members, while the same document submitted to a National Assembly of the Republic of Korea member’s office in 2026 did. They asked the committee to determine when and how the signatures were added.
The appropriateness of the budget execution and travel schedule is also subject to the audit. The petitioners said that no specific official activities had been confirmed during the two-night, three-day stay after traveling from Mérida to Cancún. They asked the committee to examine the itemized execution and appropriateness of the total travel expenses of 28,727,000 won. The audit request also covers how an accompanying employee was rehired from a grade-D fixed-term position to a grade-A position, whether the rehiring was related to the trip, and whether a return report was prepared and registered in accordance with the relevant regulations.
An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government Citizen Audit Ombudsman Committee explained, "The audit request covers around five items, and we extended the audit period because some matters require additional legal review." The official added that the specific issues subject to legal review could not be disclosed while the audit is ongoing. 
The committee also explained that there are no separate limits on the number of extensions or the duration of an audit. The official added, "The Local Autonomy Act allows the audit period to be extended, and it does not separately specify a limit on the number or duration of extensions. We are trying to conclude the audit as quickly as possible because there are petitioners, but an extension became unavoidable."
After reviewing and approving the need for an extension on the 22nd of last month, the committee notified the petitioners and the respondent’s side and published the relevant information on its website.
[email protected] Seong Cho-rong Reporter