South Korea: Audit Agency Accuses Yoon Government of Coercing Testimony in Statistics Probe

South Korea's Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) has released an internal investigation's findings, accusing its own auditors of coercing false testimony and plagiarizing statements during a probe into alleged manipulation of real estate statistics under the previous Moon administration. The BAI's "Task Force for Follow-up Measures on the Special Committee on State Affairs" concluded that the investigation, conducted between 2022 and 2023 under the Yoon Suk-yeol government, abused state audit powers to target high-ranking officials from the Moon administration.

The internal probe, initiated following a parliamentary inquiry in April, detailed instances of alleged intimidation. One auditor reportedly told a presidential office official in January 2023 that the investigation was aimed at the Chief Presidential Secretary and the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. The auditor allegedly pressured the official by invoking the idiom "jeongmyeonggado" (meaning to clear the path) and stating, "If you don't cooperate, your public service career will end."

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If you don't cooperate, your public service career will end.

Further allegations include creating a climate of fear by referencing a past case where a subject of an audit committed suicide. The investigation also reportedly involved fabricating testimony, such as recording a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport official as having knowledge of the ministry's intervention in calculating real estate statistics, despite the official stating such a meeting never occurred during their tenure. In some cases, statements from one official were copied and pasted into the testimony documents of others who had not made those statements.

In response to these findings, the BAI has recommended severe disciplinary measures for 10 auditors involved in the probe, including dismissal for six. Nine of these auditors face criminal charges for abuse of power, obstruction of public duty through deception, and falsification of official documents. The BAI is also considering a review of the audit results concerning the statistics manipulation allegations. Some auditors involved have contested the findings, stating they did their best to uncover objective facts based on available evidence.

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We did our best to uncover objective facts based on the evidence and testimony available.