Board of Audit and Inspection accused of fabricating audits on statistics and West Sea incident

South Korea's Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) has confirmed coercive and fabricated practices during its audits of real estate statistics and the West Sea public official killing case under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The BAI announced on June 27 that it would pursue criminal charges and disciplinary actions against former BAI officials, including ex-Secretary General Yoo Byung-ho, who faces charges of abuse of power.

“

This audit is targeting the policy chief and the minister. To put it simply, it's like Japan's Toyotomi Hideyoshi asking for passage to conquer Ming China. If you don't cooperate, your public service career will end.

A special task force (TF) within the BAI investigated the allegations, which stemmed from a parliamentary inquiry in April. The TF found that during the real estate statistics audit, which began in September 2022 and aimed to investigate alleged manipulation of data by the Moon Jae-in administration's presidential office and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, auditors pressured officials and manipulated testimonies. The audit's objective was to prove that high-ranking officials had unduly influenced the Korea Real Estate Board to alter statistics.

Evidence gathered by the TF suggests intense pressure was applied. One auditor reportedly told a presidential office official, "This audit is targeting the policy chief and the minister. To put it simply, it's like Japan's Toyotomi Hideyoshi asking for passage to conquer Ming China." Another senior auditor allegedly threw documents at a Ministry of Land official and stated, "You can't conduct interviews like this." The TF identified 220 instances where testimonies were misrepresented, third-party speculations were presented as facts, and personal information like private KakaoTalk messages were improperly handled during the West Sea audit.

“

The conclusion was not predetermined; we did our best to investigate objective facts and uncover the truth. We are very saddened and bewildered by the current evaluation, which differs completely from how things were perceived years ago.

In the West Sea audit, concerning the 2020 killing of a fisheries official, the BAI team allegedly provided the prosecution with entire forensic data, including private information, without proper selection. This action could render the evidence inadmissible in court. The BAI plans to review whether to re-examine the audit decisions based on the TF's findings. However, some BAI employees who participated in the statistics audit have contested the TF's conclusions, asserting they acted in good faith to uncover the truth and are bewildered by the current evaluation of their work.

“

The manipulation of housing statistics due to external pressure has been proven through objective data and witness statements.