Korea Gas Corporation President Chae Hee-bong, who served as the Blue House industrial policy secretary during the’Wolseong Unit 1 Early Closure Feasibility’, applied for a’active administrative exemption’ (hereinafter referred to as exemption) twice last year, but the auditors all rejected it. Active administrative immunity is It is a system that does not hold responsibility for or reduces exemption for inevitable errors (procedural defects, etc.) while actively performing public affairs.
Chae, SOS as early closing audit begins
Ministry of Industry data deletion also applied for public officials
Auditor received six cases related to Wolseong last year
Disclaimer of immunity for “unlawful undervalued economic feasibility
– According to the’Active Administrative Exemption Application and Processing Status’ submitted by the Auditor on the 17th by Congressman Jeong Jin-seok, the power of the people, the Auditor received a total of 16 applications for immunity last year. Among them, 6 cases were related to’early closing of Wolseong Unit 1′, with 3 cases from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (application on March 25), 2 cases from Korea Gas Corporation (July 31, August 4), and Incheon Fuel Cell. There was one case (July 6). The Board of Audit and Inspection has decided to’disapprove of immunity’ for all six applications.
Auditor Choi Jae-hyung attended the general meeting of the Legislative Judicial Council held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the morning of January 14, closing his eyes and thinking. Reporter Oh Jong-taek
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Rep. Jeong Jin-suk further inquired about the background of the Gas Corporation’s application for exemption twice even though it was not directly related to the Wolseong nuclear power plant audit. Accordingly, the construction side said “Two cases are not related to the Korea Gas Corporation, and matters related to business when President Chae Hee-bong is in office as the presidential secretary”Replied in writing. He added, “It is impossible to submit documents due to the matter under investigation by the prosecution.”
The time when President Chae applied for immunity was at the height of his appreciation for himself, former and current Blue House personnel, and officials from the Ministry of Industry. Afterwards, the auditor announced the results of the audit on October 20 last year, saying, “A crime was committed in the process of making the nuclear power plant undervalued.” At the same time, he notified the president Chae of his disapproval. Among the public officials who applied for indemnification, there was an employee of the Ministry of Industry who deleted 530 data and ordered it during the audit process related to the early closure of the Wolseong Unit 1, but these were also not exempted.
The fact that the Board of Audit and Inspection refused to apply for immunity from President Chae et al. means that it has determined that there is a serious defect in their business processing in terms of procedural validity, public interest, and transparency.
President Chae, who was from the Ministry of Industry, was appointed as the first Blue House industrial policy secretary (June 2017-August 2018) in the Moon Jae-in administration and played a role in coordinating with the Ministry of Industry the policy to promote post-nuclear power plants, including early closure of Wolseong Unit 1. Then, in July 2019, he moved to the position as President of Korea Gas Corporation. On October 20, last year, during a state-run audit of a public energy company, Chae said, “I asked the Ministry of Industry to report on the progress of the early closure of Wolseong Unit 1 and future plans when he was at the Blue House. Since then, I haven’t been involved in the economic evaluation or the board process.”
On the other hand, on the 26th of the same month, Auditor Choi Jae-hyung came to the National Assembly and said, “The secretary in charge (Chae Hee-bong) made a phone call to the Ministry of Industry on April 2, 2018, asking for the approval of the minister to post a report containing the contents of the shutdown immediately. I confirmed it.” President Chae was subject to the audit of the audit, but was excluded from the subject of censure.
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Korea Gas Corporation President Chae Hee-bong attends the National Assembly of Korea National Oil Corporation and Korea Gas Corporation, etc., held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the morning of October 20, 2020, and reports on work. Reporter Oh Jong-taek
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The Daejeon District Prosecutor’s Office, who took over the data from the Audit and Inspection Service, initiated a forced investigation and prosecuted three officials from the Ministry of Industry who were involved in the deletion of the data last month. In the course of the investigation, Chae’s mobile phone is also confiscated and analyzed. The power of the people insisted that the president and former Minister of Industry Baek Woon-gyu should be summoned and investigated as the key link between the Blue House and the Ministry of Industry at the time.
◇Proactive Administrative Exemption System = This is a system that exempts or reduces liability when it is confirmed that there is no intentional or gross negligence, even if there are procedural problems such as violations of laws or regulations in the process of actively handling business for public interest. It was introduced in 2009. When an application for immunity is received, the audit committee makes a final decision after review by the relevant department and deliberation by the advisory committee.
Reporter Hyun Il-hoon [email protected]
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