Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Former Gunpo Mayor Kim Yoon-joo
Mayor Kim: "Not a Personal Issue... Will Appeal"
Former Gunpo Mayor Kim Yoon-joo
[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A person who served as the head of a basic local government for 16 years filed a lawsuit demanding severance pay from the Government Employees Pension Service upon retirement, but the claim was rejected. The reason was that elected officials are not eligible for pension payments.
However, there are elected officials such as the president or members of the National Assembly who receive pensions under special laws. The lawsuit argued that metropolitan and basic local government heads are disadvantaged in this regard and sought to correct this.
According to the court on the 1st, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 2 (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-min) ruled against former Gunpo Mayor Kim Yoon-joo in the lawsuit to cancel the dismissal of his claim for a lump-sum retirement payment and retirement allowance against the Government Employees Pension Service.
The court stated, "The government employee pension system is designed for career civil servants who are expected to have long-term service," and added, "Local government heads can run for election based on a specific political party and are elected by residents, thus they are different from career civil servants who are guaranteed status under the Civil Servants Act and are expected to serve long-term."
It continued, "Including elected officials in the government employee pension system, which is mainly funded by contributions paid during the period of service by other civil servants, is deemed inappropriate by the legislature," and added, "Local government heads have a fixed term of four years and limited reappointment, making it legislatively and technically difficult to include them under the Government Employees Pension Act."
Former Gunpo Mayor Kim Yoon-joo, who filed the lawsuit, was elected mayor four times from 1998 and served a total of 16 years. After losing the 2018 election, he claimed a lump-sum retirement pension and retirement allowance from the pension service. While the president and members of the National Assembly receive monetary support such as pensions after retirement under special laws, he argued that metropolitan and basic local government heads should also receive severance pay.
However, the pension service rejected Kim’s claim, and he filed a lawsuit in October last year in response. In the lawsuit, Kim argued, "Local government heads have the same working conditions and pay system as other civil servants due to the implementation of local autonomy, so excluding them from the Government Employees Pension Act violates the constitutional principle of equality."
Kim also clearly stated his intention to appeal the court ruling. In a phone interview with reporters on the day, he said, "This lawsuit is not a personal issue but a problem for over 240 local government heads," and added, "In Korea, local government heads are the only ones who do not receive pension benefits and severance pay, which is extremely unfair treatment, and I plan to take this lawsuit all the way to the Supreme Court."
Kim also mentioned that he intended to pay contributions to the Government Employees Pension Service during his tenure but was unable to do so due to system deficiencies.
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