Jangheung-gun Officials Hand Over 1 Million Won for Training to County Council Members

Some Public Officials Visit Gangwon-do and Stay for 2 Days and 1 Night

Jangheung-gun Office Building Exterior Photo by Asia Economy

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] It has become controversial that Jangheung-gun in Jeollanam-do handed out 'money envelopes' to county council members who went on a training trip to Gangwon-do.

According to Jangheung-gun on the 5th, the Jangheung County Council conducted a 2-night, 3-day training session for council members from the 3rd in the Gangneung and Hoengseong areas of Gangwon-do.

A total of 14 people participated in the training, including 7 council members, including the chairman, and 7 staff members from the council's secretariat.

Before the training, rumors spread that Jangheung-gun collected tens of thousands of won from each department and handed it over as encouragement money for the council training. In response, the chairman of the council's steering committee reportedly held an emergency meeting among council members during the training, admitted to receiving 1 million won, and expressed the intention to return it.

Additionally, it has been reported that some officials, including the head of the Jangheung-gun Planning and Public Relations Office, visited Gangwon-do, the training location, to entertain the council members with meals and stayed for 1 night and 2 days, which has further intensified the controversy.

A Jangheung-gun official explained, "Some of the executive branch visited the training site as a courtesy to the council," and added, "The encouragement money was delivered from the meeting fees of the department heads, not collected from each department."