Gwangju Kyung Sil Ryeon Urges Investigation into Job Cancellation and Violation of Public Official Election Act
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Nam-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (District Mayor Kim Byeongnae) is facing controversy after reappointing two open-term public officials who retired a month ago to support preliminary candidates for the general election.
The Gwangju Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice issued a statement on the 21st, demanding, “Nam-gu should cancel the reappointments and investigate whether this violates the Public Official Election Act.”
On the 19th, Nam-gu reviewed and approved the plan to fill two positions at the Personnel Committee, conducted interviews on the 20th, and finalized the appointments on the 21st. The reappointment process was completed in just three days.
It is known that these individuals were active in the election campaign of Nam-gu District Mayor candidate Kim Byeongnae during the 2018 local elections.
They were subsequently hired as open-term public officials in Nam-gu and resigned a month ago to assist a certain candidate running as a preliminary candidate in the Gwangju Dongnam (Gap) National Assembly electoral district.
However, when the candidate withdrew midway, they had nowhere to go, and Nam-gu rehired them.
The Gwangju Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice claims that unlike open-term public officials who occupy official staff quotas, ‘specialized term’ public officials do not require the district council’s consent and can be specially hired by the district mayor without separate public announcement, which was exploited in this case.
The coalition pointed out, “It is common for metropolitan and local government heads elected through elections to hire personnel who worked in their election campaigns as open-term or specialized-term public officials, i.e., political positions. However, it is rare to find cases where individuals who resigned to campaign for a specific National Assembly preliminary candidate are reappointed immediately after that candidate withdraws.”
They added, “If this case is tolerated, there is a risk of a vicious cycle where local government heads retire term-limited public officials during elections, have them join the election campaign of a specific candidate they support, and then rehire them if the candidate withdraws or loses.”
Furthermore, “Local government heads, who are public officials, must strictly maintain neutrality in elections, yet reappointing personnel who resigned to assist a specific preliminary candidate within just one month is incomprehensible from a common-sense perspective,” emphasizing, “The Election Commission must thoroughly investigate whether this hiring method and content violate the Public Official Election Act.”
They also added, “Kim Byeongnae, Nam-gu District Mayor, should halt this unprecedented personnel administration and immediately cancel the reappointments of the two recently appointed specialized-term public officials.”
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