"One or All Are Whistleblowers Shaking Their Bodies in the County Chief's Log Cabin~"

Post on Seocheon-gun Public Officials' Free Board... "All Public Officials Who Never Raised Issues Are Accomplices"

Jeon-gyeong of Seocheon County Office

Amid allegations of misconduct involving Kim Gi-woong, the governor of Seocheon County in Chungnam, and other public officials, a critical post regarding the identification of the whistleblower has been posted on the county office's free bulletin board, sparking controversy.

A public official from Seocheon County Office wrote on the Saeol Administrative System's free bulletin board on the 13th under the title "Revealing Public Official Whistleblower X," stating, "We reveal Public Official Whistleblower X who has elevated the status of our Seocheon nationwide."

Earlier, a person presumed to be an employee working at Seocheon County Office, referred to as A, filed a report on May 3rd through the Chungnam Provincial Government’s National Petition and Public Interest Reporting section, raising suspicions of donation activities and pre-election campaign collusion involving Governor Kim and Team Leader B of the county office.

A claimed, "A team leader-level public official gifted a luxury bag, presumed to have been purchased at a duty-free shop during a trip to Osaka, Japan, in May, to Governor Kim’s wife."

Additionally, allegations were made that "Governor Kim, a director, and five public officials played golf at Gunsan CC on May 12 and received whiskey and meal expenses from a local construction company representative at a restaurant near the Geumgang Estuary in Seocheon."

The public official who posted on the free bulletin board wrote, "I reveal this because it seems you have been working hard every day to identify the whistleblower," adding, "Please place your hand on your chest, close your eyes gently, and think about it."

They continued, "The frivolity of shaking the body in rhythm at the log cabin, the pettiness of clinking wine glasses while shouting 'Nice shot, boss,' the vulgarity of flattering around the madam like a lapdog, the foolishness of making fellow employees carry fruit snacks just to get ahead, the bravery that doesn’t know whether it’s illegal or loyalty?there’s no need to look far. One or all of these are the whistleblower," they pointed out.

They added, "All of us public officials who knew all this and never raised any issues are accomplices," and wrote, "The whistleblower warns, 'If you don’t reflect and act recklessly, something bigger will explode.'"

This is interpreted as an indirect criticism of the suspicion of identifying the whistleblower who alleged that "the county office’s department and section employees were called to Governor Kim’s log cabin, made to watch his promotional video, provided with wine, and conspired in donation activities and pre-election campaigning, and that a team leader at the county office gifted a luxury bag to the governor’s wife."

Regarding this, Governor Kim explained in a phone call with a reporter on the 11th, "I drank wine with lower-ranking public officials whom I barely know at my home, listened to their work difficulties, and said that if I am re-elected, there would be good things like promotions," adding, "I just showed them a video that appeared on a broadcast while watching YouTube."

An official from the audit department also dismissed the suspicion of identifying the whistleblower, stating, "There can be no such thing as identifying a public interest whistleblower."