Gwangju Office of Education, Auditor's 'Hiring Misconduct' Under Fire at National Assembly Audit

Assemblywoman Gominjeong Raises Suspicion of Education Superintendent 'Involvement'
Lee Jeongseon: "No Intervention... Decision Based on Disciplinary Committee"

Democratic Party lawmaker Gominjeong is questioning Superintendent Lee Jeongseon during the National Assembly Education Committee's audit of the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education held on the morning of the 17th at the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education in Hwajeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Regarding the misconduct in the recruitment of the auditor at the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, suspicions of Superintendent Lee Jeong-seon's involvement arose during the National Assembly audit, putting the issue under scrutiny.

On the 17th, during the National Assembly audit held at the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, Go Min-jeong, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, raised suspicions, stating, "According to the Board of Audit and Inspection's results, a section chief at the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education requested the evaluation committee to revise scores, changing a third place to second place," and questioned, "Isn't it possible that Superintendent Lee, a high school classmate, ordered this?"

The Board of Audit and Inspection reported that Mr. A, a section chief in charge of personnel at the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, violated Article 42 of the Local Public Officials Act by requesting a revision of the interview evaluation scores to assist the auditor candidate who was a high school classmate of the superintendent. Following the controversy over impropriety, the auditor voluntarily resigned in April last year, seven months after appointment, and Mr. A received a one-month suspension disciplinary action earlier this week, just before the National Assembly audit.

Representative Go questioned, "The Board of Audit and Inspection recommended a 'suspension' as the disciplinary level for the section chief, but no disciplinary action was taken until just before the audit, when a one-month suspension was finally imposed," and asked, "Is such a disciplinary measure sufficient for recruitment misconduct?"

Furthermore, during the Q&A session, Superintendent Lee responded, "Since he was one of the few high school classmates, I was glad and wanted to evaluate him more favorably if possible." Representative Go directly countered, "If the superintendent says this at the audit, imagine how the officials under him must have felt. That is why we suspect interference."

In response, Superintendent Lee explained, "I did not intervene. The delay in disciplinary action was due to the disciplinary committee's decision to withhold action until the investigation results were out," and added, "The section chief was reassigned to a non-executive position to prevent him from exercising authority."

Regarding the question of whether the one-month suspension was appropriate, Superintendent Lee defended, "Considering circumstances such as the police investigation stage where the arrest warrant was dismissed and the suspect was sent without detention, the personnel committee's decision for a one-month suspension could not be requested for reconsideration."