Original Korean article: Taimnyuseu
A Taean County Council meeting was held on the 31st for approximately one hour and 40 minutes to examine the progress of the Taean offshore wind and marine sand extraction projects and issues of community acceptance among fishing communities.
The meeting was attended by Council Chair Kim Young-in, Council Members Choi Sung-mi and Lim Hae-hwan, and Vice Chair Jang Young-sook. Council Member O Dong-won attended but left early for another engagement. Council Members Kim Ju-sung and Hong Sang-geum were absent for the second consecutive day, following a separate meeting on volunteer conduct issues in Taean-eup.
Two representatives from Taean Offshore Wind and officials from the Taean Coast Guard, responsible for maritime safety, were present throughout the meeting, though it remained unclear whether they were there specifically for offshore wind matters related to the sea.
Absence of Key Government Departments
Notably, the Taean County Energy Division, which oversees offshore wind projects, and the Construction Division, which handles marine sand extraction, did not attend.
The Marine and Fisheries Development Fishermen's Association was represented by Board Chair Baek Jong-hyun, Group Leader Kim Young-sil, Auditor Kim Won-sook, Executive Director Lee Gyu-jae, and Executive Vice President Park Seung-min. Fishing community leaders including former Mohang Fishing Village Association Chair Guk Hyun-min and the current chair also participated.
As an official public event, Time News Director Lee Nam-yeol, who covers marine environmental issues including offshore wind and marine sand extraction, attended and listened to the entire meeting.
Executive Vice President Park Seung-min spent over one hour and 30 minutes explaining the overlapping spatial issues surrounding offshore sectors 162 and 163, which concentrate existing fishing activities. He addressed the questionable origins of the offshore wind project in sector 162 pursued during the seventh and eighth elected administrations, allegations of collusion between the county government and private interests regarding marine sand extraction in the Black Island area, and the overlapping policies concerning offshore wind, marine sand extraction, military operations, and marine environmental management. His explanation was based on submitted related documents.
Park specifically presented problematic documents, including testimony from former County Magistrate Ga Se-ro, who was summoned as a court witness in past litigation and stated his intent to follow legally prescribed procedures, and remarks attributed to current Director Kim Ki-man suggesting "this is our business, so why submit opposing opinions." He also presented documents showing that only the approval of 56 village chiefs was submitted to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, which led to conditional designation of the offshore wind integrated zone.
He formally requested that the County Council conduct an audit when stenographic records and related official documents are submitted.
The association also disclosed a commitment document signed by former County Magistrate Ga Se-ro and Director Kim Ki-man regarding business cost control, management, and research ethics compliance, related to the Korea Energy Agency's 4.35 billion won large-scale offshore wind development support project. The association submitted audit request materials covering six areas of the offshore wind promotion process to all attending council members.
Council Members' Positions
After hearing the explanation, Vice Chair Jang Young-sook stated that the offshore wind project should not proceed without securing community acceptance from potentially affected fishing communities. Council Member Lim Hae-hwan opposed proceeding with projects that lack principles and procedures. Council Member Choi Sung-mi stated that regardless of support or opposition, if community acceptance from stakeholders within the project area is not secured in accordance with law, the project should not proceed.
The association requested that the Taean County Council conduct a formal audit based on original documents covering eight years of administrative and financial progress in the offshore wind project, the execution process of the 4.35 billion won support project, procedures for securing community acceptance, existing fishing operations in sectors 162 and 163, and the cumulative marine spatial impacts of marine sand extraction in the Black Island area and offshore wind development.
An association representative emphasized that the process by which Director Kim Ki-man and former County Magistrate Ga Se-ro pursued the project independently without fishermen, despite security, survival, and existential threats to the same sea, must be clarified through a special audit regardless of support or opposition.
In closing remarks, this outlet disclosed information obtained during reporting that when Taean County approves the public water surface use licence that the offshore wind project seeks, a document indicating an implied contract arrangement was obtained showing that the former union chair of Korea South-East Power, who initially planned the wind project in 2018, the former county magistrate, and the promotion forces would secure equity rights equivalent to approximately 17 percent of construction costs, excluding taxes and public charges, from the total project budget, valued at approximately 240 billion won at market rates.
In response, Executive Vice President Park noted that former County Magistrate Ga Se-ro, summoned to courtroom 108 of the Seosan District Court in November 2022, testified that the Taean offshore wind project was a review project of former County Magistrate Han Sang-gi. However, he stated that Korea South-East Power responded to the court that it had conducted no review in 2017.
Park further pointed out that former County Magistrate Ga Se-ro was someone who did not even know the location, catch volume, or number of operating vessels in sectors 162 and 163, which cover a 25-kilometer radius from Mohang Port and span approximately 106 million pyeong.
Park emphasized that unqualified public officials including Ga Se-ro, who was unaware of the 1,085 fishing vessels, 12,815 fishing days, and 280 billion won in catch sales and private transactions across three fisheries cooperatives in the two sectors, and Kim Ki-man, who was fixed on the idea that "offshore wind is a project we want to do," have left Taean County residents suffering and exhausted over the past eight years with only hardship remaining.
