It is controversial when it was revealed that the child of Yoo Byung-ho, secretary-general of the Board of Audit and Inspection, who led the nuclear phase-out audit under the Moon Jae-in government, was found to have stocks in Doosan Energy (formerly Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction), a nuclear power plant company.
President Yoo, the second-in-command in the Board of Audit and Inspection (Vice Minister), led the audit of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1, which was prematurely shut down due to the ‘de-nuclear power plant’ policy at the time of the Moon administration.
Yoo Byung-ho’s children own 25 million won of Doosan Energy
According to the Legislative and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly on the 10th, President Yoo reported that he held 1.85 billion won worth of listed and unlisted stocks out of 3.8 billion won worth of assets through the public official’s temporary property disclosure last month.
However, this includes the fact that the eldest son and the eldest daughter each own 724 shares of Doosan Energy.
Doosan Energy is the only company in Korea that manufactures major equipment such as nuclear reactor modules, which are core facilities of nuclear power plants. The financial investment industry estimated that the government lost 7-8 trillion won in sales, including 800 billion won in sunk costs, as the construction of six new nuclear power plants, including Shin-Hanul Units 3 and 4, was canceled due to the government’s de-nuclearization.
On the other hand, the Yun Seok-yeol administration, which officially declared the abolition of nuclear power plants, is considered a beneficiary of expectations for a ‘second nuclear power renaissance’. On June 22, President Yoon Seok-yeol visited Doosan Energy in Changwon, Gyeongnam to hear regarding the Shinhanul Units 3 and 4 reactors and the Korean nuclear power plant ‘APR1400’.
President Yoo’s children’s holdings of Doosan Energy shares amounted to 25.12 million won as of the closing price of 17,350 won on June 15, the registration date (inauguration date). According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, the time when President Yoo’s children bought the stock was around June of last year.
At that time, President Yoo was serving as the Director of the Audit Bureau of Public Institutions in charge of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant audit. The Board of Audit and Inspection concluded that the early closure of Wolsong Unit 1 in October 2020 was due to manipulation as a result of economic evaluation. The prosecution requested an investigation into related officials, including former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Un-gyu.
After that, President Yoo moved to the Audit Research Institute in January of this year. Considering that the Audit Research Institute is a non-audit department, it was evaluated as a ‘relegated person’.
However, two months later, President Yoon Seok-yeol was elected and he was dispatched to the Presidential Transition Committee as an expert member. He was an exceptional person who skipped the 1st grade from the 2nd grade (director-level), the head of the research institute, and climbed straight up to the vice-minister-level.
The opposition party said, “It is not appropriate to hold stocks in nuclear power plant companies that might be affected by President Yoo, who led the ‘examination of nuclear power plants’ in the previous government, and this government is also working on the so-called ‘clearing evils’ such as the phase out of nuclear power plants. ” was pointed out. The Board of Audit and Inspection is currently conducting audits related to the Moon Jae-in government’s energy supply and demand policies, including renewable energy.
Yoo Byung-ho explained, “It is not related to my job”
President Yoo countered that the stock had nothing to do with his job. If the value of the stocks held by the person or his/her family exceeds 30 million won, a public official of Grade 1 or higher must sell the stock or place a blank trust within two months.
However, if the public official himself determines that there is no job relevance, he or she may be exempted from the duty of sale or blank trust following undergoing a job relevance examination. Currently, the Stock Blank Trust Committee of the Ministry of Human Resources and Innovation is reviewing whether it is job-related at the request of President Yoo.
Regarding the details of the Doosan Energy stock acquisition, President Yoo said, “Eight months following the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant audit ended, I gave 50 million won each to my children (born in 1991 and 1996). “I bought the stock and I am currently recording a loss.” Doosan Energy’s share price exceeded 20,000 won in August alone, but the stock market crashed last month, dropping to the current 14,000 won level.
Regarding the future stock disposal plan, President Yoo said, “Once the results of the job-related examination come out, we will follow them as they are.” If the request is accepted, there was no response as to whether to retain or dispose of it.
Prior to the cabinet meeting held at the government complex in Seoul on the 5th, President Yoo said, “Today, we will provide clarification once more. The fact that he sent a text message to Lee Kwan-seop, the head of state affairs planning in the presidential office, was also caught on the camera of a reporter.
In fact, on the same day, the Board of Audit and Inspection distributed press reference materials that refuted some media reports that an audit committee resolution was required to initiate an audit of the ‘Sea Sea public official’s attack case’, saying, “It is not true at all.”
Controversy over the political neutrality of the Board of Audit and Inspection arose as the Democratic Party protested, saying, “The political audit behind the Board of Audit and Inspection was revealed to the President’s Office.” In this regard, on the 12th, the Democratic Party decided to file a complaint once morest President Yoo to the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Office (Public Investigation Agency).
Rep. Park Jumin said, “President Yoo shook the political neutrality and independence of the Board of Audit and Inspection from the ground up through intimate communication with the President’s Office, but now he is also tarnishing the integrity and morality of the Board of Audit and Inspection. After canceling the job-related review request for the stocks he owns, he should immediately start a stock trust.”
Reporter Hyung-ju Oh ohj@hankyung.com
