Seongnam City has pushed back against allegations that Mayor Shin Sang-jin and others violated the Public Official Election Act — allegations filed with the police by the Democratic Party faction of the Seongnam City Council.
On the 9th, according to reporting by Incheon Ilbo, the council's Democratic Party said Mayor Shin inflated figures while presenting examples of budget savings on last year's Communication Live broadcast, spreading false information and engaging in pre-election campaigning. The party filed a complaint with the Seongnam Jungwon Police Station on Nov. 25 of last year.
Communication Live was held as a regional tour, meeting audiences 12 times from Sept. 5 to Oct. 14 last year.
Seongnam City says the disclosures complied with the Ordinance on the Disclosure of Seongnam City Budget-Saving and Waste Cases, which Democratic Party councilors Yoon Chang-geun and Lim Jeong-mi proposed and that the council enacted in 2020.
The ordinance requires the mayor to publish such cases on the city website once a year to enhance efficiency and transparency in budget execution.
Seongnam City responded, \"We presented budget-saving cases in accordance with the ordinance and explicitly labeled the figures as 'estimates' to avoid overstating them.\"
The city added, \"We used PowerPoint materials, which saved more budget compared with printing booklets, to faithfully follow the ordinance's intent. Filing a complaint despite that is an inconsistent and reckless political attack.\"
The current ordinance also includes a provision allowing the city to pay performance bonuses to officials and individuals who directly contribute to budget savings or increased revenue.
A Seongnam City official emphasized, \"We consulted with the election commission in advance through a Q&A and were told there was no violation of election law, so we proceeded with the event.\"
Police are investigating whether the disclosed budget-saving materials are accurate and whether they amount to a legal violation, focusing on senior officials in Seongnam's operational departments who were named in the complaint.
The police have already questioned one accused official, identified as A from a Seongnam operational department, and plan to question another accused official, B, later this week.
A police spokesperson said, \"We are conducting the investigation according to procedure and cannot provide details, such as whether the accused have been summoned.\"
/Seongnam = Kim Kyu-sik, reporter kgs@incheonilbo.com
