One Assembly Member Attends Award Ceremony Accompanied by Medical Bureau Staff and Policy Support Officer
Concerns Raised Over Inappropriate Use of Staff for Personal Schedule Throughout the Day
Calls for Clear Regulations on Support for Assembly Members at Award Ceremonies and Similar Events
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shin Dong-ho] A local council member in the Gwangju area has sparked controversy by taking council staff along while going to receive an award for legislative activities.
It is pointed out that having staff accompany for a personal award trip to another region is excessive protocol and a waste of administrative resources.
According to the Seo-gu Council of Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 3rd, Council Member A received the Grand Prize for Legislative Policy Vision in the 2022 Korea Local Autonomy Evaluation conducted by the Yeouido Policy Research Institute on the 29th of last month.
The controversy arose because one council staff member and one policy assistant accompanied the council member to the awards ceremony held in the main conference hall of the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Seoul. It is known that these two submitted business trip reports for the day and accompanied Council Member A.
Since it was under the pretext of a business trip, approximately 120,000 KRW per person was paid for round-trip transportation, meals, and daily allowance.
The policy assistant is personnel hired to support the legislative activities of local council members. Up to half of the total number of local council members can be hired. In the case of Seo-gu Council, which has 13 members, up to 6 can be hired, but currently only 3 are employed, assigned at a ratio of one per four council members.
They support ▲ legislative activities related to council resolutions and data collection, investigation, and analysis ▲ organizing public hearings, seminars, and discussions by council members, preparing materials, and attending such events.
Although policy assistants are hired to support council members' activities, controversy has continued over whether they should also perform duties related to personal award attendance.
Moreover, since policy assistants support multiple council members rather than serving as one-on-one aides, opinions exist that it is inappropriate for them to be mobilized all day to accompany one council member to another region for an award.
There are also criticisms that even general council secretariat staff, not policy assistants, accompanying the trip is excessive protocol and a waste of administrative resources.
Regarding this, Council Member A said, “Despite being busy with administrative audits, I was the only one among Gwangju city and district council members to be selected for this award by applying. Award recipients from across the country also came with their respective council staff. I believe council staff should diligently support the legislative activities of council members.”
Voices are emerging that institutional regulations should be established regarding support for council members’ awards and similar matters.
A local council official from another region said, “When council members request accompaniment or support, there are no clear regulations, so it is a common difficulty for all council secretariats that they cannot refuse for vague reasons. If the Election Commission or others clarify this institutionally, the occurrence of controversies will significantly decrease.”
Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shin Dong-ho yjm3070@asiae.co.kr
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