Central government plans to sue mayor, cut off funding



By Kim Tae-gyu



Kang Un-tae

Gwangju City Mayor



The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Friday that it plans to ask prosecutors for a criminal investigation on Gwangju City Mayor Kang Un-tae for allegedly fabricating documents to win the right to host the 2019 World Swimming Championships.

To attract the biennial International Swimming Federation or FINA event, the city situated around 350 kilometers south of Seoul allegedly forged signatures of a former prime minister and culture minister as part of the government's financial guarantees.

"When the FINA inspection team visited Korea this April, we reviewed the documents submitted by Gwangju last October and it turned out that the two signatures were forged," a ministry official said.

"We will file a complaint against Gwangju's action, which we think amounts to a clear forgery of official documents."

While making an official bid last October, Gwangju was requested to present letters of then Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and Culture Minister Choi Kwang-shik.

The city obviously fabricated their signatures and used them, a felony that may be punishable for up to 10 years in prison.

In the letter, the government offered 73.9 billion won for the city to organize the global swimming festival.

In response, Gwangju City said that after finding the mistakes, it deleted the amount when it tendered the intermediate offer this April and the final draft two months later.

Gwangju is a major city located in South Jeolla Province that is saddled with growing debts from the hosting of an international motor sport competition.

Since 2010, South Jeolla Province recorded some 170 billion won in deficit by hosting the F1 Formula Grand Prix for three years and it is expected to face losses in 2013, too.

"Some heads of regional governments just try to host as many global events as they can without checking their financial status or commercial viability," said a professor of a Seoul university.

"Then, they demand support from the central government. They seek to protect their pride at the expense of taxpayers' money. There are so many examples."

In 2007, Incheon earned the right to host the 17th Asian Games to be held around the middle of next year. Back then, it promised to construct the main stadium with its own budget but now is asking the central government to subsidize 30 percent of the costs.

In addition, it demands that the central government cover 70 percent of overall costs instead of the promised 30 percent.