President Lee Jae-myung Orders Accountability for Negligent Wildfire Recovery Contractors

President Lee Jae-myung has instructed the Korea Forest Service to rectify companies that have been problematic due to shoddy recovery work and subsequent closures of wildfire recovery projects. This action comes after reports detailed how these 'grasshopper companies' operate unscrupulously by merely borrowing certifications to establish firms, conduct substandard recovery work, and then shut down.

President Lee referred to these practices as "structural corruption" during a cabinet meeting and reprimanded the responsible ministries for allowing such issues to persist for years. He also called for practical measures, such as increasing bid bonds and confiscating funds upon detection of fraud.

The Korea Forest Service has begun a comprehensive investigation to inspect companies suspected of substandard operations and has signaled potential actions including license revocation and criminal prosecution. The agency plans to prioritize and intensively scrutinize forest service companies suspected of negligent operations, and will take measures such as license revocation or criminal prosecution if violations of the law are confirmed.

Furthermore, the agency plans to introduce a reward system for whistleblowers to strengthen civilian oversight. It is pursuing the acquisition of special judicial police powers and the implementation of a reward system for reporting to establish a civilian surveillance network for certification lending.