'Drinking Photo at Work' Public Official's Excessive Neglect of Duty

Gwangju Nam-gu Administrative Welfare Center Employee Posts 'Drinking' Photo on SNS During Holiday Work

Suspected Deletion of Overtime Approval Records... Complaint Filed on National Petition Portal Amid Controversy

Person Involved Explains,

A public official in Nam-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, posted a photo on their social networking service (SNS) showing themselves drinking beer while on duty. As this fact spread, concerns arose that public service discipline has seriously deteriorated.

Recently, a post appeared on the online community for office workers, 'Blind,' stating, "A public official from the same department posted a photo on SNS drinking beer while working." The photo clearly revealed the official's workplace and budget-related laws, and showed an opened can of beer.

The photo was posted by Mr. A (Grade 8), who belongs to an administrative welfare center in Nam-gu, Gwangju. He visited the office on the 23rd, a holiday, for overtime work and uploaded the photo on his SNS.

As this fact became known, over 100 comments expressing disappointment over the collapse of public service discipline were posted, including remarks such as "I have filed a complaint through the 'People's Petition' system" and "I hope this was unpaid overtime."

Especially with the Chuseok holiday approaching and during the period of inspection to establish public service discipline, netizens are not only criticizing but also expressing anger over the fact that alcohol was consumed while performing administrative duties, which require absolute precision even on holidays.

Following the controversy, suspicions have been raised that the content was deleted as if no overtime work was done and that approval was not granted.

Generally, employees who plan to work overtime on holidays submit an application in advance on Friday. After working on the holiday, they receive official approval on the next working day, Monday.

Mr. A also submitted an application last Friday, but his overtime work record was missing from the approval records on the following Monday. It was confirmed that except for last week, Mr. A had fully utilized the maximum allowable overtime of 4 hours on all weekends of the 3rd, 9th, and 17th. However, the absence of overtime approval records for the weekend in question has fueled suspicion.

In response, Mr. A explained, "I bought the beer to drink at home, but it was hot on the way to the office, so I took a few sips. The work was simple and just involved organizing, and I was too busy on weekdays to do it, so I came out briefly on the weekend to work, but it did not exceed one hour and thus did not qualify as overtime."

The head of the administrative welfare center said, "I acknowledge the fault in failing to manage the staff properly, and we will thoroughly educate the employees to prevent such incidents from recurring." He added, "Since a complaint has been filed through the People's Petition system, we will cooperate sincerely once the Nam-gu audit office begins its investigation."