Seoul Jung-gu - Jung-gu Council Personnel Hearing Ordinance Sparks 'Dispute'

Seoul Jung-gu Council, Regarding Jung-gu's 'Request for Reconsideration of the Personnel Hearing Ordinance' "Regret over Jung-gu Office's Reconsideration Request Attempting to Nullify Council's Voting Rights"

The Seoul Jung-gu Council (Chairperson Gil Gi-young) held a press conference at 10 a.m. on the 4th in the main assembly hall and issued a statement condemning the Jung-gu Office for submitting a request for reconsideration regarding the personnel hearing ordinance.

Chairperson Gil Gi-young, Vice Chairperson Yoon Pan-oh, Councilors Lee Jeong-mi, Song Jae-cheon, and Jo Mi-jung participated in the statement announcement.

The partial amendment to the Local Autonomy Act, which provides the legal basis for local councils to conduct personnel hearings for senior officials appointed by local government heads and heads of local public corporations, was passed at the National Assembly plenary session on February 27 of this year.

Along with this, the 'Seoul Special City Jung-gu Council Personnel Hearing Ordinance,' which Chairperson Gil Gi-young introduced as the representative bill after receiving the legislative model ordinance from the Ministry of Government Legislation, was finalized through the Council Steering Committee on June 28 and passed at the 4th plenary session of the regular meeting on July 3.

Although public corporations and public institutions are directly related to residents' lives and constitute a significant portion of local government finances, the appointment process for heads of these corporations has not been subject to public scrutiny due to institutional shortcomings.

With the enactment of the 'Seoul Special City Jung-gu Council Personnel Hearing Ordinance,' a legal basis for personnel hearings to verify the morality and job performance capabilities of senior officials and heads of public institutions has been established, which is expected to ensure residents' welfare and the professionalism of district administration.

However, with the receipt of a request for reconsideration from the Jung-gu Office dated July 24, many difficulties are anticipated before the system can be implemented. Article 32, Paragraph 3, and Article 120 of the Local Autonomy Act grant local councils the right to request reconsideration of ordinance enactment, repeal, or resolution, but the conditions for reconsideration, such as 'objection' and 'significant harm to public interest,' are abstract and unclear, leading to frequent misuse as a means to obstruct council voting rights.

The councilors stated, "The Jung-gu Office uses the word 'concern' regarding events that have not yet occurred as grounds for the reconsideration request, excluding concrete and substantive evidence, and prematurely and subjectively obstructs the personnel hearing ordinance," adding, "Despite the ordinance passing the National Assembly plenary session and the Ministry of Government Legislation issuing a legislative model to support the ordinance's establishment and each council's legislative efforts, the Jung-gu Office's unclear and subjective judgment in requesting reconsideration directly contradicts the binding authority of higher institutions such as the National Assembly and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. This can only be seen as a despotic and overreaching act that attempts to override the superior law, the Local Autonomy Act."

Furthermore, they emphasized, "It is the role of the council, as representatives of the residents, to verify the morality and job performance capabilities of senior officials and heads of public institutions through personnel hearings, which guarantees residents' welfare and the professionalism of district administration. This will also put an end to the recurring controversies over patronage appointments, restoring fairness, integrity, and residents' trust," and added, "We hope the Jung-gu Office shares the true meaning of personnel hearings and focuses on constructive and productive administration as a partner in district governance."

◆Seoul Jung-gu Office Responds: "Enacting a Personnel Hearing Ordinance by Local Councils Is Not an Essential Matter"

Kim Gil-seong, Mayor of Jung-gu

In response, Seoul Jung-gu (Mayor Kim Gil-seong) stated that the appointment and dismissal authority for the Chairman of the Facilities Management Corporation, a local public enterprise, and the President of the Cultural Foundation, a local government-funded institution, lies with the head of the local government. According to laws and regulations, when appointing executives, an executive recommendation committee is formed and operated to ensure objectivity in candidate selection, and three persons recommended by the local council are mandatorily included as candidates.

They argued that since the Facilities Management Corporation's Chairman and the Cultural Foundation's President include candidates recommended by the local council through the executive recommendation committee during appointments, the local council already has sufficient checks on the mayor's personnel authority. Therefore, enacting a personnel hearing ordinance by the local council is interpreted as an excessive infringement on the mayor's personnel authority.

According to the Ministry of Government Legislation, enacting a personnel hearing ordinance by local councils under the partial amendment to the Local Autonomy Act is not a mandatory matter.

They also emphasized that considering cases where even the National Assembly's personnel hearings based on the Personnel Hearing Act have deteriorated into partisan political battles, there is concern that local council personnel hearings could similarly devolve into arenas of partisan conflict if the ordinance is enacted and implemented.

Mayor Kim Gil-seong of Jung-gu stated, "If the appointment procedures for the Chairman of the Jung-gu Facilities Management Corporation and the President of the Jung-gu Cultural Foundation, who operate various sports and cultural facilities that Jung-gu residents greatly benefit from, are delayed due to personnel hearings, resulting in management vacancies and disruptions in work performance, the damage will inevitably fall directly on the residents of Jung-gu," and added, "We hope the Jung-gu Council focuses on the lives of Jung-gu residents instead of proposing ordinances that unnecessarily provoke political strife."