[2026 Parliamentary Audit] "Residents' Audit Request Over Mexico Trip Allegations Not Reported to Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon"

Ombudsman Committee Chair: "Did Not Report It Because It Was During the Election Period"
Lee Haesik: "Matters Involving Investigations or Trials Should Be Excluded from Audits"
Oh Sehoon: "We Need to Be Cautious... and Limit the Scope of the Audit"

Controversy erupted at a parliamentary audit after it emerged that the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Citizens’ Audit Ombudsman Committee had voted to proceed with a residents’ audit request concerning allegations about former Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Won-oh’s trip to Mexico, but the matter had not been reported to Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon.

At the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee’s audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government on October 15, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Hae-sik questioned Cho Deok-hyeon, chair of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Citizens’ Ombudsman Committee, asking, “Does it make sense not to report this to the mayor?”

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon reviews documents at the 2026 National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, held at Seoul City Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, on October 15, 2026. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Earlier, in connection with allegations about former district mayor Jeong’s past trip to Cancun, Mexico, which surfaced during the June 3 local elections, the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Citizens’ Audit Ombudsman Committee held an audit request review meeting on June 25 and voted to launch an audit.

Citing Article 18 of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Ombudsman Committee Ordinance, Lee said, “The committee is required to report key review outcomes to the mayor. The Mexico trip allegations were the biggest issue before and after the election, and the matter is under investigation following complaints filed against each other by Assemblyman Kim Jae-seop and former district mayor Jeong Un-o.”

Cho acknowledged the facts, saying, “We did not report it to the mayor.” Asked why the report had been omitted, he explained, “We did not report it because it was during the election period. Although the resolution was adopted on June 25, we did not report it afterward either.”

Citing Article 21 of the Local Autonomy Act, Lee said, “Matters that could involve an investigation or trial are excluded from the scope of an audit.” He noted that Gyeonggi Province dismissed a residents’ audit request concerning the Yangpyeong Expressway in 2024 because it overlapped with an investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, and argued that Seoul’s decision to proceed with the audit was itself inappropriate. He added, “The mayor says he learned about it through media reports, but if he did, he should have immediately ordered the audit to be suspended.”

In response, Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon said, “Since we ran against each other in the election, there is an element that requires caution. For that reason, we also have to avoid doing anything that could give the other side a relative advantage or benefit.” He added, “We recently received an authoritative interpretation from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety saying that we should conduct the audit only to the extent that it does not overlap with the investigation,” and said, “It is our duty to citizens to limit the scope of the audit as much as possible.”

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