[Parliamentary Audit] Rep. Park Jeong-hyeon: “Busan should conduct an internal audit after the Expo bid debacle”

[Financial News] At a parliamentary audit of Busan City by the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee at Busan City Hall on the morning of the 21st, calls were made for an internal audit and investigation into the failed bid to host the 2030 Busan World Expo (Expo).
At the audit held in the city hall’s main conference room that day, Rep. Park Jeong-hyeon (Daejeon Daedeok, Democratic Party of Korea) called for a proper assessment of Busan’s disastrous bid to host the 2030 World Expo.
Rep. Park said, “At the time of the bid campaign, overseas missions reportedly judged that it would be difficult in practical terms for Busan to host the Expo, but their superiors (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) ignored that assessment.” He pressed on: “Also, the Busan Research Institute’s performance evaluations showed persistent score differences at each stage. Did the then Busan mayor or the Foreign Ministry not know?”
Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-su replied, “I didn’t look into it properly,” adding, “I understand there were various problems, including the budget execution process (during the Expo bid campaign), and we’ll need to check.”
Rep. Park continued, “It has been confirmed that the preparation budget at the time was 121.7 billion won. Where was all of this money spent?” He added, “The bid support team appears to have spent excessively on overseas travel. It also spent as much as 4 billion won on business travel through five budget reallocations. Yet, although the bid needed to be promoted overseas, there were only six overseas trips, compared with 41 domestic trips.”
He urged the former mayor to “pursue an internal audit at the Busan City level as well,” stressing, “We must properly assess the failed bid so that we don’t fail again.”
Rep. Kim Young-bae (Seoul Seongbuk A, Democratic Party of Korea) raised the same issue. Kim said, “An official from the Yoon Suk Yeol administration said while there at the time that the bid would make it to the second round of voting, but reports from diplomatic authorities said it would be difficult. It was a case of wholesale mismanagement.” He added, “Donations from Busan citizens totaled 7.75 billion won, while the Pan-Citizen Bid Committee’s donations totaled 9.68 billion won. There must be an audit, and an investigation if necessary. It is also the successor’s duty to bring the facts fully to light.”
The former mayor promised, “Going forward, I’ll look into various issues, including the budget execution process related to the Busan Expo bid project.”[email protected] Byun Ok-hwan Reporter