Choo Miae Claims Former Governor Purchased Official Vehicle; 'Perjury Controversy' Erupts

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Miae is facing growing controversy as she explains the new official vehicle purchase dispute by claiming that her predecessor, Governor Kim Dong-yeon, made the decision to acquire the vehicle.

According to Gyeonggi Province and the National Procurement Service on the 14th, the province signed a purchase contract with Hyundai Motor for 77,651,190 won for an Ioniq 9 on June 29. The vehicle was delivered on July 8, after Governor Choo took office, and began operation.

The contract signing occurred one day before Governor Kim's retirement. Kim had already lost to Governor Choo in the Democratic Party's gubernatorial primary on April 7, and his retirement was already scheduled.

The vehicle purchase plan was also established after Governor Choo won the June 3 local elections. In a situation where the successor governor had been confirmed, the new official vehicle purchase contract was signed during the incumbent governor's tenure.

Previously, during the 13th National Assembly's Administration and Safety Committee parliamentary audit of Gyeonggi Province, Governor Choo was asked about the official vehicle replacement and responded, "It was before I took office, so I didn't even sign off on it and I didn't know about it at the time," and "After checking, I found that the former governor decided on the purchase."

She also explained, "We changed it because the vehicle exceeded its useful lifespan," and described the eco-friendly vehicle purchase as intended to reduce maintenance costs.

However, the former governor's camp immediately objected. A spokesperson for Kim's camp said in media interviews that it is difficult to accept the notion that someone who had already lost the primary and had their retirement set would purchase a new car they wouldn't drive themselves, and that it is hard to understand attributing the direct vehicle purchase decision to Kim simply because the approval went through during his tenure. Additionally, the camp explained that following the implementation of a two-vehicle limit policy, they leased the Ioniq 9 separately from the existing Carnival and alternated usage, and the leased vehicle was returned after retirement.

As the controversy spread, the province released details of the vehicle purchase process through a written briefing from the spokesperson on the 14th.

The province announced that on June 11, it confirmed a plan to retire 4 public vehicles and purchase the same number of new vehicles, and that it went through related administrative procedures from June 11-17 before signing the contract on the 29th.

In particular, the province stated that the 4 vehicles designated for retirement were either registered over 10 years ago, or had exceeded 8 years of useful life and driven over 120,000 kilometers. The province also explained that the budget for new vehicle purchases was included in the 2026 main budget.

However, according to materials submitted by the province to the Provincial Assembly, the official vehicle used by former Governor Kim was a Carnival High Limousine purchased on August 25, 2022 for 62.09 million won. Based on June 11, when the new vehicle purchase plan was established, the vehicle had been in use for only 3 years and 9 months.

Under Gyeonggi Province's public vehicle management regulations, the governor's personal official vehicle can only be replaced after the minimum operation period set by the Procurement Service has passed and the total mileage exceeds 120,000 kilometers. The useful life of passenger vehicles is 8 years, and the existing Carnival purchased in August 2022 had only been in use for 3 years and 9 months at the time of the new vehicle purchase.

The province did not scrap the existing Carnival but converted it to a work vehicle for another department. Since the existing vehicle had remaining usable lifespan, it was reassigned rather than retired.

This is a separate issue from the retirement of 4 old vehicles announced by the province on the 14th. If, as the province explained, the vehicles designated for retirement had been registered over 10 years ago or met the useful life and mileage requirements, the existing governor's personal Carnival would be difficult to classify as falling under those categories.

Accordingly, Governor Choo's response that "we changed it because the vehicle exceeded its useful lifespan" has become controversial. The existing governor's personal vehicle reportedly still had remaining usable lifespan and was not scrapped.

National Assembly member Kang Myeong-gu (People Power Party, Gumi-eul, North Gyeongsang Province) raised questions about Governor Choo's parliamentary audit response by releasing related materials.

Rep. Kang stated, "Governor Choo should immediately disclose verifiable materials such as the exact vehicle contract date and purchase date to the public," and "If the response given at the parliamentary audit hearing proves to be false, I will hold her accountable for perjury."