Seoul Metropolitan Council Requests Imposition of Up to 5 Million KRW Fine on 6 Witnesses Absent from Administrative Audit

Six witnesses including a principal accused of power abuse, a teacher specially hired after dismissal, and a private school corporation official related to whistleblowing on school operations at the education office administrative audit... Education Committee decided on November 27 to impose fines of 3 million or 5 million KRW for failure to submit absence reasons or lack of valid justification... City Council requested the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to impose fines on November 29 according to local autonomy laws

On the 29th, the Seoul Metropolitan Council announced that it has requested the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to impose fines on six witnesses who were absent without justifiable reasons during the 2024 administrative audit.

According to Article 49, Paragraph 5 of the Local Autonomy Act and Article 9, Paragraph 1 of the Seoul Metropolitan Council Ordinance on Administrative Audits and Investigations, if a witness selected for an administrative audit is absent without justifiable reasons, a fine ranging from 3 million to 5 million KRW may be imposed.

The Seoul Metropolitan Council had selected a total of 88 witnesses and reference persons for the 2024 administrative audit conducted from November 4 to 17, targeting the Seoul City Hall and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

The six individuals who were decided to be fined this time were selected as witnesses for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education administrative audit but were either absent without submitting a reason or did not attend despite being able to, including principals, teachers, and private school corporation officials. This decision was made after a resolution by the Education Committee.

The Seoul Metropolitan Council Education Committee selected 12 witnesses for the 2024 Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education administrative audit, including principals suspected of abuse of power, teachers related to the special hiring of dismissed teachers by former Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon, and private school corporation officials involved in whistleblowing related to school management.

Among them, four attended, but eight were absent. Accordingly, on November 27, the Education Committee resolved to impose fines of either 3 million or 5 million KRW on six individuals whose reasons for absence were deemed unjustifiable.

In accordance with the Local Autonomy Act and related regulations, on November 29, the Seoul Metropolitan Council requested the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to impose fines on the six individuals, and the Superintendent must notify the Council Chair of the fine imposition results.

According to Article 46, Paragraph 4 of the Enforcement Decree of the Local Autonomy Act and Article 9, Paragraph 2 of the Seoul Metropolitan Council Ordinance on Administrative Audits and Investigations, the imposition of fines on administrative audit witnesses must be requested by the Chair to the Superintendent, who then imposes the fines and promptly informs the Chair of the results.

Lee Min-seok, spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Mapo 1, People Power Party), emphasized, “Witnesses lawfully selected under the administrative audit-related laws who fail to attend without justifiable reasons undermine the legitimate legislative activities of the City Council as a representative body of the citizens. Therefore, imposing fines is inevitable, and such incidents must not recur in the future.”