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Seoul council's US trip prompts airport questions over taxpayer spending

A councillor runs from a reporter as an investigation examines sightseeing itineraries and who approved the overseas visits.

Channel: MBCNEWS ·

South KoreaStory of November 14, 2026Trari Newsroom

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At Incheon International Airport, a reporter approaches Seoul district councillors checking in for a trip to the United States. One runs through the terminal. The council chair denies being the person the journalist is asking for.

The footage opens an investigation by South Korea's Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, on its MBCNEWS channel, into overseas travel by Seongbuk District Council and the process used to approve it.

Reporter Do Yoon-sun meets the delegation before its departure for the Los Angeles area on October 28. According to the report, the taxpayer-funded trip cost 54 million won and combined weekday government-office visits with Hollywood, Yosemite National Park and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Chair Yang Soon-im avoids questions, while councillor Kim Yuk-young runs away from the approaching reporter. Councillor Lee Ji-min says she does not consider the itinerary particularly heavy on tourist destinations. Asked about a festival, Yang says the delegation will not attend. The report then presents photographs of councillors judging costumes at a Halloween celebration in Buena Park, California.

Beyond the airport exchanges, the investigation asks who scrutinized the plans. It reports that the council chair, herself a participant in the trip, appointed the civilian members of the travel-review committee and attended its deliberations.

The segment follows an earlier investigation into the same council's Malaysia visit. Widening its examination to councils across the Seoul metropolitan region, the report says overseas trips involved hundreds of councillors and 1.85 billion won in public spending, with most applications approved as submitted.

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