▲ Presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon gives a press briefing at the presidential office in Seoul on June 12, 2023. (Yonhap)

Yoon-solar energy projects

Yoon orders thorough investigation into decision-makers behind allegedly corrupt solar energy projects

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday ordered the office of the presidential secretary for civil service discipline to carry out a thorough investigation into the decision-makers behind allegedly corrupt solar energy projects pursued under the previous Moon Jae-in administration, his office said.

The order came a day after the state Board of Audit and Inspection said it referred 13 people, including Gunsan Mayor Kang Im-joon and two former industry ministry officials, to the prosecution after finding irregularities in a number of energy projects launched over the past four to five years.

"President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the office of the secretary for civil service discipline today to carry out a thorough investigation into the entire decision-making line involved in the solar projects at the time," presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said during a press briefing.

The BAI said it identified alleged collusion between a private firm and officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in advancing a 300-megawatt solar panel project in Taean County, located approximately 110 kilometers southwest of Seoul, around 2018-2019.

During the approval process for the project, the two sides are believed to have colluded in changing the purpose of land use, resulting in a hike in the land value that ultimately benefited the firm, the BAI said.

In a separate case, Kang allegedly provided favors to an alumnus of his high school in selecting a preferred bidder for a government-funded solar panel project in his city in 2020, the BAI said.

The promotion of renewable energy was one of the Moon administration's key agenda items.

A presidential official told reporters that depending on the results of the civil service discipline secretary's investigation, disciplinary action could be sought against those responsible, and in the event of clear violations of the law, those people could be referred to the prosecution for a formal investigation.

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