A request for a resident audit to "remove the statue of former President Park Chung-hee erected in the square of Dongdaegu Station in Daegu Metropolitan City" has recently been submitted to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, it was reported on the 19th. The statue was built by the city of Daegu last December as part of a memorial project for former President Park. In this regard, a civic group filed a resident audit request, claiming that the city of Daegu violated the local government finance act, national land planning act, spatial information act, and others during the statue's construction process.
The civic group that requested the removal of the statue of former President Park Chung-hee is called the "Anti-Park Chung-hee Idolization Civic Movement Headquarters," which operates in Daegu. This organization has been pushing for a resident audit since September of last year. They argued, “Remove the statue of Park Chung-hee and return Park Chung-hee Square to the citizens.”
Ultimately, this group officially submitted the request for a resident audit demanding the removal of the statue of former President Park on the 9th to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. If the handling of affairs by the metropolitan local government is deemed illegal or harmful to the public interest, a request for an audit can be made to the relevant minister with more than 300 signatures within six months after a certain procedure. It is reported that this audit request has received 481 signatures.
Additionally, this group submitted a proposal for the abolition of the "Ordinance Supporting the Memorial Project for President Park Chung-hee" to the Daegu City Council. It is said that 14,485 citizens signed the ordinance abolition proposal, which has been initiated in the city council under the name of the city council chairperson. The ordinance served as the basis for the construction of the statue of former President Park.
Jang Ji-hyuk, the operational committee member of the Daegu Citizens’ Coalition, who represents the request for a resident audit, said, “The ordinance proposal for the Park Chung-hee memorial project initiated by the city of Daegu was enacted too hastily and carelessly,” adding, “Even though opposing opinions were expressed during the legislative notice phase when the ordinance was established, none of them were reflected.”
In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will conduct a review of the list of requesters and the application procedure for objections until the 23rd. It is expected to decide whether to conduct an audit next month. If the Ministry of Land chooses not to conduct an audit, the process will be concluded. Conversely, if the Ministry of Land starts an audit, it must be completed within 60 days. There are analyses suggesting that various measures concerning the statue of former President Park can be taken based on the audit results.
A representative of Daegu City stated, “Internally, we have completed a legal review and concluded that there are ‘no issues related to the construction of the statue of former President Park,’” adding, “We will monitor the conclusions from the Ministry of Land and decide on response measures.”
Meanwhile, Daegu City is involved in a legal dispute with the Korea Railroad Corporation regarding the construction of the statue of former President Park. The corporation filed a lawsuit against Daegu in January, demanding, “Please remove the statue that Daegu City unilaterally erected without consulting with the owner of the Dongdaegu Station square (the corporation).” The first trial is scheduled to be held at the Daegu District Court on the 3rd of next month.
The statue of former President Park was also pointed out as resembling the former mayor of Daegu, Hong Joon-pyo, at the time of its construction. In response, Lee Sang-tae, the artist who created the statue, revealed that the city of Daegu requested him to create a statue in the same form as the photo of President Park smiling during the harvest on September 30, 1965. Hong ran in the National Power Party candidate selection before the last presidential election but did not get elected as the presidential candidate.