Myojung Kim and Hyeongik Jin, Changwon City Council Members, Cleared of Defamation Charges in Masan Marine New City Fourth Public Offering Case

Council members of Changwon Special City, who had been criminally charged by a contractor participating in the fourth public offering for the Masan Marine New City Development Project, have been cleared of all charges.

On April 13, Myojung Kim and Hyeongik Jin, council members from the Democratic Party of Korea, held a press conference at the city hall press center and stated, "Changwon Jungbu Police Station has decided there is no suspicion of a crime in the criminal complaint filed by a participant in the fourth public offering for the Masan Marine New City Development Project."

They emphasized, "Our remarks made in the council and press room do not constitute a crime and have been confirmed as falling within the scope of legitimate legislative activities," adding, "The subjects of our legislative activities and explanations were the City of Changwon itself, not any specific individual or company."

They continued, "Nevertheless, the fourth bidder escalating the issue to a criminal complaint amounts to an excessive and inappropriate legal response to legitimate legislative activities," and added, "As a result, our legislative work, entrusted by the citizens, has faced restrictions due to investigations and lawsuits."

Myojung Kim (second from left) and Hyungik Jin, council members of Changwon Metropolitan City, Gyeongnam Province, are holding a press conference regarding the criminal complaint filed by the representative of the company participating in the 4th public offering of the Masan Marine New Town development project. Photo by Yerang Lee

They further stated, "Scrutiny and raising concerns about public projects are essential duties of the city council, acting on behalf of citizens," and warned, "Repeatedly filing criminal and civil complaints over the same issue could discourage legislative activities and restrict the public's right to know."

They went on to say, "Given that a civil lawsuit regarding the same matter by the same complainant is still ongoing, we will respond faithfully according to legal procedures, and if necessary, we will consider holding those responsible accountable, including legal action against any attempts to unduly restrict or unfairly burden our legislative activities."

The Masan Marine New City Development Project is an initiative to attract private investment and build apartments, tourism and cultural complexes, and commercial facilities on a 642,167-square-meter man-made island created by reclaiming public waters in Masan Bay with soil from the construction of the Gapo New Port.

Previously, the representative, Mr. A, of a company that participated in the consortium for the fourth public offering for the Masan Marine New City Development Project, filed a police complaint against the two council members in September last year, claiming that their statements about the public offering amounted to "defamation based on false information."

Mr. A's company was not selected in the fourth public offering due to an insufficient evaluation score, but later filed and won a lawsuit challenging the invalidation of the preferred negotiation candidate selection.

Subsequently, Changwon City sought to re-evaluate the fourth public offering, but upon confirming that the business plan submitted by the consortium included company names—grounds for disqualification according to the public offering guidelines—the city decided to invalidate the application.

Council members Kim and Jin raised suspicions, during this process, of collusion between the company and the eighth popularly elected Changwon city administration.

The two council members concluded, "We make it clear that any attempt to suppress legitimate legislative activities will entail corresponding responsibility," and added, "We will continue to ask questions and scrutinize on behalf of the citizens, and will persist in our legislative duties with accountability to the very end."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.