The city of Changwon has conducted a special audit into "Big Tree," an observation tower at Daesang Park in South Gyeongsang Province that drew controversy for an exterior far different from its renderings, disciplining the officials in charge and referring the private developer to investigative authorities.
Changwon's audit office announced the results of its special audit on the development process of Big Tree, a park facility under the Daesang Park private park development special project, Monday.
The audit followed criticism from citizens, the media and the city council after the main sculpture at the top of Big Tree was removed, leaving the completed structure entirely different from the original renderings. The audit ran for about four months from Feb. 9 to May 31. It focused on two areas: the appropriateness of the procedures for changing Big Tree's design and the appropriateness of the project cost calculation.
As a result, the city confirmed that the officials in charge did not sufficiently verify and review whether the supervisor and the private developer had properly carried out the official review and reporting procedures required under relevant laws during the process of changing Big Tree's design.
Accordingly, the city took personnel measures against five officials who handled the related work at the time. Four received reprimands or warnings, and one was referred for disciplinary action.
The appropriateness of the project cost also became subject to investigation. The city explained that it is difficult to conclusively determine the appropriateness of the final project cost because the settlement procedure for the project cost breakdown submitted by the private developer is still under way.
However, seeing the possibility that unnecessary project costs may have been reflected at the design stage, the city requested an investigation into two officials on the private developer's side to verify the facts and any legal violations.
The project cost for the Big Tree development is known to be about 34.4 billion won, based on materials submitted by the private developer.
Big Tree was pursued as the symbolic facility of the Daesang Park private park development special project in Seongsan-gu. Under the project's structure, the private developer builds 87.3% of the total project area of about 957,000 square meters into park facilities such as Big Tree and Mom's Free Zone and donates them to the city, while constructing 1,779 apartment units on the remaining 12.7% of the site to earn profit. Daesang Park Development Co., jointly established by Hyundai Engineering & Construction and HB Holdings, served as the developer.
Big Tree was initially planned as an urban landmark featuring a large 20-meter-tall artificial tree and multiple branch-shaped structures, referencing the Supertrees of Singapore's "Gardens by the Bay."
However, after construction began, the design was changed as concerns over vulnerability to natural disasters were raised during various review processes, and the main top sculpture and most of the branch structures were ultimately dropped. When Big Tree was unveiled as a completed cylindrical structure, citizens poured out ridicule, calling it a "drum can" and a "hair-loss tree," and the "eyesore" controversy spread.
The local community has steadily raised suspicions of project cost inflation, citing the fact that hundreds of billions of won were poured into a result vastly different from the renderings.
Changwon decided not to disclose the detailed contents of the audit report. The reasons cited were the duty of confidentiality under the Local Public Officials Act, the confidentiality clause in the agreement with the private developer, and information subject to non-disclosure under the Information Disclosure Act.
"It is difficult to disclose details because the report includes matters related to the investigation request and matters that could affect future litigation," a city official said. "We will review whether to take additional measures based on the investigation results and the project cost settlement results."
