Presidential security official accused of extorting funds in 2022 office relocation

(Yonhap)

A presidential security official who was recently arrested on charges of illegally taking personal profits when handling the 2022 presidential office relocation project, was found to have extorted a large sum of money from a construction broker to funnel the relocation budget, reports said Friday.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, which last week arrested the official, identified by his surname Jeong, found that the suspect threatened and extorted a total of 176 million won ($132,151) from a construction broker, surnamed Kim, according to local reports citing legal sources.

The money was extorted to fund the construction of the new office for the chief of the presidential security service, which was built in line with the presidential office's relocation from Cheong Wa Dae to Yongsan in 2022.

Prosecutors believe that Jeong threatened Kim into funding the construction of an office for the head of the presidential security service. At the time, Kim was able to win a separate bulletproof glass installation project for the new presidential office with Jeong’s help. Jeong is reportedly suspected of “forcibly pushing” for the construction of the new office for the head of the security service, when the budget for the project was yet to be sufficiently secured.

Jeong reportedly confessed to prosecutors that the “schedule of the presidential relocation project was tight,” while stressing that threatening Kim for money to secure a sufficient amount of funds was unavoidable.

Kim was arrested alongside Jeong last week on similar charges including fraud, for also separately pocketing personal profits from the bulletproof glass installation project.

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into allegations that Kim's company, which secured the project to install bulletproof glass for the Yongsan presidential office in 2022, had inflated construction costs, after the Board of Audit and Inspection raised suspicions in October last year. The audit agency claimed that the cost was inflated some four-fold from 470 million won to 2.04 billion, which was paid to Kim's company.

Prosecutors said that Jeong, who was a key decision maker in the 2022 relocation project, appointed Kim, with whom he had already developed close ties through previous construction projects, in an attempt to gain personal favors.

Jeong is accused of personally pocketing some 280 million won in the process, while Kim allegedly took 1.57 billion won.

In 2022, President Yoon Suk Yeol relocated the presidential office to a former defense headquarters building in Seoul's Yongsan district based on his campaign pledge to better connect with the people. The old presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, has since opened to the public.

By Jung Min-kyung(mkjung@heraldcorp.com)