Gyeonggi Province, Ilbe and Sexual Crime Controversy 7th Grade Appointment Candidate Ultimately 'Disqualified'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province held a personnel committee meeting on the 26th and decided to revoke the qualification of candidate A, a newly appointed Grade 7 candidate, who caused controversy by posting 'suspected sexual crime' content on internet sites.

Candidate A is currently not a formal public official but a candidate for appointment, and as a result of this decision, will lose the qualification as a candidate and be removed from the candidate list.

The province became aware of the incident through civil complaints and a Blue House national petition requesting to block the appointment of the successful Grade 7 public official candidate in Gyeonggi Province last December and has been conducting an investigation.

After conducting a face-to-face investigation with candidate A, the province submitted the agenda to the personnel committee for deliberation on the candidate’s qualification. The personnel committee allowed candidate A to attend to guarantee the right to defense and listened to related statements.

The personnel committee of the province stated the reason for the disqualification decision as follows: "Candidate A posted numerous posts containing sexual harassment against women and derogatory remarks about disabled people on publicly accessible internet sites, greatly damaging the dignity expected of a candidate for appointment and lacking the qualifications as a Gyeonggi Province public official who must serve the residents."

Article 14 of the current Local Public Officials Appointment Decree stipulates that "if a candidate for appointment commits acts that greatly damage dignity and it is recognized that it is difficult to perform duties as a public official," the qualification for appointment may be lost through a personnel committee resolution.

The province plans to proceed with the prior notification procedure to officially inform candidate A of the disposition. If candidate A wishes to provide an explanation after receiving prior notice, the final disposition will be confirmed after a hearing.

Separately, the province decided to request an investigation by judicial authorities on the 27th regarding separate allegations (such as sexual transactions involving minors) that candidate A denies.

Earlier, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung clearly stated on December 31 last year in a Facebook post titled "A suspected sexual crime member of Ilbe is a Gyeonggi Province public official..." that "A successful candidate for a Gyeonggi Province public official, suspected of sexual crimes and affiliated with Ilbe (Ilgan Best), is causing controversy," and "If true, they do not have the qualifications to perform public duties on behalf of the residents as their representative."

He added, "We will thoroughly investigate, and if confirmed to be true, we will strictly enforce not only cancellation of appointment but also legal measures."