Changwon Special City, Jang Dong-hwa, Director of Changwon Industry Promotion Agency, Resignation Reason ... "Attributed to Personal Matters" Confirmed

Jang Dong-hwa, the director of the Changwon Industry Promotion Agency in Gyeongnam (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Agency’), submitted his resignation to the Changwon Special City, claiming that the ‘independence has been compromised’ in the operation of the institution due to changes in the guidelines for a specific research and development project and conflicts arising from the establishment of an internal audit department within the Agency.

Changwon Special City Hall, Gyeongnam.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

In response, Changwon Special City stated its position on the two issues cited by Director Jang as ‘independence compromised’ on the 17th as follows.

First, the city fundamentally operates on the principle of ‘mutual cooperation’ with heads of affiliated institutions and ‘provides maximum support’ to ensure that each institution complies with relevant laws and articles of incorporation.

To diversify Changwon’s industry, the city planned and proposed the ‘AI and Big Data-based Medical and Bio Advanced Equipment Research and Manufacturing Center Construction Project,’ which was included in the 2022 government budget and was awarded through a public offering in 2023.

This project is designed so that Changwon City determines the policy direction and entrusts the Agency to execute it.

The basic principle for last year’s project was that the task selection and budget execution be completed within the fiscal year (by the end of December 2023 at the latest).

However, the Agency’s public offering guidelines stipulated that the task would only be selected in February 2024, the next fiscal year.

Changwon City discovered this on the second day of the announcement and took measures to revise and re-announce it so that budget execution could be carried out within the fiscal year as much as possible within reasonable limits.

Second, on August 11 of last year, the mayor of Changwon instructed all affiliated public institutions to establish and operate their own audit departments to secure preventive audit functions, during an executive meeting attended by the Agency’s director.

Accordingly, the Agency’s board of directors finally established its own audit department (Ethical Management Team) through a written resolution in early January this year.

These measures are perfectly normal activities in which Changwon City and the board fulfill their supervisory responsibilities over the public institution, the Agency.

If Director Jang intended to resign because of these reasons, it can only be seen as a lack of understanding of the ‘operating principles of public institutions’ like the Agency.

Rather, it is understood that Director Jang expressed his intention to resign due to personal reasons such as ‘conflicts with employees within the Agency, controversies over direct contracts, and dissatisfaction with the establishment of the internal audit department’ rather than these issues.

Going forward, Changwon City plans to review relevant laws and articles of incorporation to process Director Jang’s resignation letter and related matters.