Oh Se-hoon embroiled in perjury dispute over Hangang Bus audit request and budget; Seoul says claims distort facts

[Financial News] Seoul pushed back against allegations that Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, committed perjury during a parliamentary audit, amid controversy over the decision-making process for requesting a public-interest audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) into Hangang Bus and whether budget funds were spent on the project. The city said the allegations distorted the facts and the intent of his remarks. In response to Democratic Party lawmakers' calls to file a complaint over Oh's answers at the audit, the city said the actual decision-making process and the full context of his remarks should be taken into account.
In a statement on the 26th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government called the allegations of perjury against Mayor Oh, raised during the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee's comprehensive parliamentary audit, “claims that fail to take into account the overall intent of the remarks and the facts.”
Regarding the perjury allegations over the decision to request a BAI public-interest audit into Hangang Bus, the city countered that Oh's remarks at the time described the usual decision-making process and did not distort the facts.
Earlier, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-bae alleged that Oh had committed perjury, saying that although the mayor had decided to request an audit, he answered as if working-level officials had made the decision.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government explained that Oh had instructed officials to consider requesting an audit and referring the Hangang Bus-related allegations for investigation, after which working-level staff and political aides discussed prioritizing a request for a public-interest audit. The city said Oh then received a report on the review's findings through his chief of staff and gave final approval.
The city stressed that Oh's answer during the Public Administration and Security Committee's parliamentary audit—that staff had discussed and made the decision—described the working-level review process, while his statement during the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit that the mayor had approved it described the final decision-making process.
The city also rejected Democratic Party lawmaker Lim Ho-seon's allegation of perjury regarding budget spending on Hangang Bus. It said Oh's remarks were intended to convey that he had not received direct reports on the operator's individual business matters and that no budget had been spent directly on the project.
The city said Oh had not denied budget spending on public infrastructure, such as the construction of piers, or support to cover operating deficits, and that it was unfair to call his remarks perjury without distinguishing between these items.
The city also explained that Oh's remarks were based on races sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, in response to Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-sik's questions about the number of marathon events held.
Regarding Oh's comment at the parliamentary audit that “the number of marathons sponsored by our city has fallen,” the city said he meant that the number of marathons it sponsored had decreased from 15 last year to seven this year.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it was “unfair to take only part of the remarks made at the parliamentary audit and claim they constitute perjury,” adding that the full context of the answers and the actual administrative procedures should be considered together.

[email protected] Seong Chorong Reporter