Yeosu continues to accumulate bad karma

I am originally from Seoul, and this post is absolutely not a disparagement of the Jeolla region.
I actually love Honam cuisine, the KIA Tigers, and traveling through Jeolla culture, including Deogyusan, Jirisan, the "end-of-the-land" villages, Jindo, Wando, and Damyang.
I am writing this in advance because there is so much nonsense claiming this is a slight against Honam.
Corrupt practices must be accurately investigated.
So much money was spent, so this issue must continue to be highlighted.
How badly must the preparations have failed for the government to be so intimidated that they are mobilizing everything just to inflate visitor numbers?
I heard that students are required to submit a formal reason for non-attendance if they do not go there.
Are they out of their minds?