Gwangju Buk-gu Office Official Who Posted Defamatory Article About District Council Member Faces 'Disciplinary Bypass'

The prosecution has closed the case without indictment regarding an incident in which a public official affiliated with the Buk-gu Office of Gwangju Metropolitan City posted defamatory remarks about a district council member on the office's internal bulletin board.

Buk-gu recently announced on the 9th that it received notification from the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office that the investigation into public official A's defamation case was closed without indictment. Defamation is a quasi-offense, meaning that if the victim does not wish to press charges, prosecution cannot proceed. Since the victim, Buk-gu council member B, expressed a desire to withdraw the complaint to the investigative agency, the case was dismissed without prosecution.

A was handed over to the prosecution on suspicion of posting a critical message about a ordinance proposed by a Buk-gu council member on the Saeol local administration system bulletin board in March. In the post, A wrote, "Can a person who has been fined discuss transparency in corruption and financial management?" The post notably also mentioned sensitive personal information, including criminal records.

A has breathed a sigh of relief not only from the risk of criminal punishment but also from disciplinary burdens as a public official. The case was handled internally without being referred to the personnel committee for violation of dignity maintenance. A Buk-gu official explained, "It was judged that there was no clear criminal intent, and considering that the prosecution closed the case without indictment, we decided accordingly." In effect, despite the police executing a search warrant and uncovering A's intent, illegality, and responsibility, the disciplinary process was skipped. This has inevitably led to criticism that it is a case of protecting one's own staff.

Buk-gu also cited the "2023 Local Public Officials Disciplinary Work Manual" published by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which states that "when notified of no prosecution, disciplinary resolution is not always required." However, a precise citation from the report reads, "Disciplinary resolution should only be requested if the facts of the offense are recognized depending on the degree of misconduct, negligence, and intent; therefore, if notified of no prosecution due to cases like traffic accidents without intent, disciplinary resolution is not always required." A Ministry of the Interior and Safety official from the Local Personnel System Division explained, "Even if notified of no prosecution, if the facts of the offense are recognized and constitute grounds for discipline, disciplinary procedures should be followed in principle."

Meanwhile, Buk-gu council member B expressed during a personal statement at the 293rd extraordinary session plenary meeting, "The Saeol administrative bulletin board is an internal government office network system shared by affiliated public officials, public employees, and security officers for work purposes," and added, "Posts with sarcastic titles and content aimed at damaging the reputation of legitimate council activities were posted, and many comments were made," expressing the harm caused. He also criticized, "The executive agency (Buk-gu Office) dismissed this incident as the deviation of a single employee and did not make active efforts to prevent recurrence and resolve the issue."

Previously, in July last year, a post evaluating all 20 members of the Buk-gu Council was uploaded to the Buk-gu Office public official community, causing controversy and prompting the council to request an investigation.