It is shocking that the Korea Customs Service (KCS) fabricated the rankings of duty free store applicants by distorting data during the Park Geun-hye administration. There had been many suspicions of illicit favors in the customs agency's awarding of duty free licenses, and such suspicions have now been proven to be true.
The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) said Tuesday the KCS arbitrarily changed the scoring system in July 2015 when it evaluated duty free store operators in Seoul. As a result, Hotel Lotte earned low marks and failed to receive a license. But Hanwha Group earned higher-than-normal marks and received a license to run a duty free store in Seoul.
Lotte, the country's largest duty free operator, was unduly eliminated again from the subsequent November bidding the same year and handed over its license to Doosan Group.
The customs agency, under pressure from the presidential office, also increased the necessary number of operators by concocting data on the number of foreign tourists. An outside study had suggested there would be room for only one operator, but the KCS announced in April last year that four more operators were necessary.
The number of duty free operators in Seoul doubled from five at the end of 2014 to 10 this year. The consequences are horrible.
As Chinese tourists, who once accounted for 70 percent of sales, dipped after Seoul's decision to deploy a U.S. missile defense battery here, most duty free shops are in the red.
Civil servants' behavior revealed in the state auditor's inspection of the customs office was shameful. But the irregularities laid bare this time may be the tip of the iceberg.
Based on its audit, the BAI asked the prosecution to investigate KCS head Chun Hong-uk and other officials. Prosecutors should get to the bottom of the duty free license scandal to bring associated wrongdoings to light.
Now it's obvious the new administration needs to overhaul our duty free system to prevent a recurrence of similar irregularities. The current scheme in which licenses must be renewed every five years through open bidding is no longer tenable. Allowing companies to open duty free shops autonomously is long overdue.
The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) said Tuesday the KCS arbitrarily changed the scoring system in July 2015 when it evaluated duty free store operators in Seoul. As a result, Hotel Lotte earned low marks and failed to receive a license. But Hanwha Group earned higher-than-normal marks and received a license to run a duty free store in Seoul.
Lotte, the country's largest duty free operator, was unduly eliminated again from the subsequent November bidding the same year and handed over its license to Doosan Group.
The customs agency, under pressure from the presidential office, also increased the necessary number of operators by concocting data on the number of foreign tourists. An outside study had suggested there would be room for only one operator, but the KCS announced in April last year that four more operators were necessary.
The number of duty free operators in Seoul doubled from five at the end of 2014 to 10 this year. The consequences are horrible.
As Chinese tourists, who once accounted for 70 percent of sales, dipped after Seoul's decision to deploy a U.S. missile defense battery here, most duty free shops are in the red.
Civil servants' behavior revealed in the state auditor's inspection of the customs office was shameful. But the irregularities laid bare this time may be the tip of the iceberg.
Based on its audit, the BAI asked the prosecution to investigate KCS head Chun Hong-uk and other officials. Prosecutors should get to the bottom of the duty free license scandal to bring associated wrongdoings to light.
Now it's obvious the new administration needs to overhaul our duty free system to prevent a recurrence of similar irregularities. The current scheme in which licenses must be renewed every five years through open bidding is no longer tenable. Allowing companies to open duty free shops autonomously is long overdue.
![[INTERVIEW] Ahn Hyo-seop wanted to share dedicated love with 'A Time Called You'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/cb0026a0ef9e445fb850c720b307e5cd.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
