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Police launch raids over allged favoritism in Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway change

Published: 16 May. 2025, 17:12 Updated: 18 May. 2025, 20:00

Former first lady Kim Keon Hee leaves the presidential residence on April 11. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The police, investigating allegations of favoritism in the route change of the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway involving the family of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's wife, Kim Keon Hee, have simultaneously launched compulsory investigations into related agencies.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency executed search and seizure warrants on Friday morning at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Yangpyeong County Office and engineering firms Kyungdong Engineering and Donghae Engineering & Consultants.

The police reportedly deployed investigators to secure materials related to the construction and route change process of the expressway.

The route is a road connecting Gamil-dong in Hanam, Gyeonggi, and Yangseo-myeon in Yangpyeong County, with the project initiated in 2008. The original plan, designating Yangseo-myeon as the terminus, passed a preliminary feasibility study in 2021.

However, in May 2023, the Infrastructure Ministry announced a revised plan with the terminus in Gangsang-myeon, Yangpyeong County, raising suspicions of favoritism due to the fact that ancestral land and property owned by Kim’s family are located in the revised terminus.

Additionally, questions were raised about the significant increase in contracts for Kyungdong Engineering, which conducted the feasibility study in 2022. As suspicions grew, then-Infrastructure Minister Won Hee-ryong abruptly declared the project nullified in July 2023, stating that "groundless agitation will not cease." Since then, the project has been halted.

The liberal Democratic Party and civic groups filed a complaint against Won with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in July 2023, accusing him of abuse of authority and other misdeeds.

In the complaint, they argued that "to decide on nullifying the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway route, it is mandatory to undergo deliberation by the National Transport Committee and the Metropolitan Transport Committee," and claimed that "former Minister Won unilaterally declared the nullification without the legally mandated deliberation."

This undated file photo shows Democratic Party officials presenting a complaint over a controversial Seoul-Yangpyeong expressway project to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. [YONHAP]

The complaint was transferred to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency by the prosecution in July of last year. The police have been conducting the investigation since last December, starting with questioning the complainants. After analyzing the materials obtained through the search and seizure, they plan to proceed with summoning related individuals for investigation.

The key point of the investigation is to prove whether there was any abuse of authority by the Infrastructure Ministry or Won in the process of attempting to change the terminus of the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway from Yangseo-myeon to Gangsang-myeon.

In this regard, the ministry and the engineering firms maintain that they merely followed the results of technical reviews conducted by design firms. They argue that if the terminus remains in Yangseo-myeon per the original plan, access for Yangpyeong residents could be restricted, and the route might pass through water source protection zones and ecological conservation areas, potentially harming the natural environment.

Infrastructure Minister Park Sang-woo said during a National Assembly audit in October of last year that "there was no favoritism or external pressure, and the staff also have a firm belief in that regard."

In March, the ministry released the results of an internal audit indicating that the management of the feasibility study contract, which included the expressway terminus change plan, was "inadequate."

However, as the focus was on the mismanagement and discipline for working-level staff, criticism arose that it was an attempt to shift the blame.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY SON SUNG-BAE, LEE YOUNG-KEUN [[email protected]]