During Holiday Work, 'Beer Proof Shot'... Grade 8 Public Official Ultimately Disciplined

Public Official Working at Gwangju Nam-gu Administrative Welfare Center
Posted Photo on SNS, Received Complaint via National Petition Portal

A public official who drank canned beer in the office during overtime on a holiday and posted photos of this on social networking services (SNS) is expected to face disciplinary action.

According to Nam-gu Office in Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 22nd, the office requested the personnel committee to decide on a minor disciplinary action against Grade 8 public official A at a local administrative welfare center for violating the duty to maintain the dignity of public officials. Typically, minor disciplinary actions correspond to salary reduction or reprimand.

[Image source=Online community capture]

On the 23rd of last month, which was a holiday, around 7 p.m., A was working overtime at the administrative welfare center and drank alcohol in the office, took photos, and posted them on his SNS. The photo included a canned beer on the desk along with budget-related documents.

The photo soon spread to online workplace communities such as 'Blind,' and after seeing the post, an anonymous user filed a complaint through the National Petition System stating that "A violated the service regulations," prompting the district office to recognize the situation and start an investigation.

Regarding the reason for posting the photo, A explained, "I bought a can of beer on the way home on a holiday and stopped by the office briefly to work for less than an hour. 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 organizing, and since I have been very busy recently, I thought I could not do it on weekdays, so I came out briefly on the weekend to work, but it did not exceed one hour, so it did not lead to overtime." At the time of drinking, A was alone in the office, and the documents in the photo were not classified as confidential or subject to external leakage.

The Nam-gu Audit Office, which conducted the audit, judged that A’s act of posting a photo showing a beer can and official documents online violated the duty to maintain dignity.

Nam-gu officials stated, "We will hold a personnel committee soon to discipline A, who has damaged the honor of other employees," and added, "We will take care to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future."