‘의원님 업체’ 편법 수의계약에 ‘한도’ 설정…“실효성 있는 감시 체계 필요”

The government has decided to limit the number of small-scale contract awards and contract amounts for specific companies in order to prevent local government procurement irregularities. Following ongoing suspicions that some local officials have exerted influence over companies run by their family members or associates, additional measures are required to ensure that existing laws are properly enforced.

The Ministry of Government Safety recently revised the "Local Government Bid and Contract Execution Standards" to introduce a new system that limits the number of contracts a single company can receive from a single individual. The limit is set at one bid per company for contracts valued at less than 200 million won (two million dollars), except for young, female, and disabled entrepreneurs, for which the limit is one bid per company for contracts valued at less than 50 million won (five million dollars).

Larger cities and counties are prohibited from awarding contracts to the same company in the same year if the contract value exceeds 3 billion won (30 million dollars), while smaller cities and counties are limited to one bid per company for contracts valued at less than 3 billion won. However, there is an exception for cases where there is an unavoidable shortage of companies to bid on contracts.

The Ministry of Government Safety has also stated that if necessary, they will allow for the issuance of contracts outside of these limits through a review process involving the local government's contract review committee. The current local government procurement law and the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act prohibit government officials from entering into contracts with companies where the official, their spouse, or their immediate family members hold over 30% of the shares or over 50% of the capital.

In one recent case, it was revealed that a local government official in a specific county had entered into 133 contracts (2.38 billion won) with a company owned by the mayor's wife, which was discovered through a financial audit. The Ministry of Government Safety plans to introduce new regulations to the Local Government Act requiring local government officials and their spouses or immediate family members to register and publicly disclose their business relationships.

However, critics argue that simply strengthening transparency is not enough, and a robust monitoring system must be put in place to ensure that existing laws are being enforced. The head of the Association of National Police Prosecutors called for anonymous tips regarding the contracts of entities associated with local government officials, as well as thorough investigations and corrective actions when necessary.

A survey conducted by the National Integrity Agency between July 2022 and August 2024 found that 1,391 contracts worth approximately 31 billion won were awarded to companies owned by local government officials and their families. However, the identities of the specific local governments and officials involved have not been made public.