Gwangju City Official Sparks Controversy with Toast: "Mayor Kang Gijung, At Least One More Term"

Participatory Autonomy 21 Statement: "Parties Must Reflect and Take Preventive Measures"
"Election Law Violations and Factionalism Hinder Local Government Development"

Gwangju City Hall exterior view.

A senior official in Gwangju Metropolitan City sparked controversy by mentioning "at least, re-election" as a toast during a year-end gathering presided over by Mayor Kang Gijung.

According to Chamyujachi21 and Gwangju City on the 31st, at a year-end dinner attended by Mayor Kang at a restaurant in Seo-gu, Gwangju, on the night of the 23rd, a director-level official proposed a toast saying, "Civil servants should always flatter and study," and added, "When I say 'at least,' please respond with 're-election.'"

It has been reported that most of the senior officials, including Mayor Kang, the Deputy Mayors for Administration and Culture & Economy, and directors at the deputy director-general level, attended the event.

The issue is that such remarks are not simply flattery towards the mayor but could potentially constitute a "violation of election law." This could be seen as a breach of the duty of neutrality for public officials as stipulated in the Local Public Officials Act or the Public Official Election Act.

What is even more concerning is that the official in question is the head of the department responsible for local election-related affairs, which has further fueled the controversy. Regardless of legal interpretation, considering the person's position, this behavior is highly inappropriate and deserves criticism.

In a statement, Chamyujachi21 commented, "Such inappropriate conduct by a high-ranking official encourages chronic and regressive behavior of aligning with prominent candidates as local elections approach, thereby undermining the duty of neutrality," and added, "In short, it hinders the development of local autonomy in Gwangju."

The group continued, "The person involved should apologize to the citizens of Gwangju, and the city should take appropriate measures to prevent a recurrence of such incidents," and warned, "If such actions are repeated without reflection and preventive measures, we will actively consider legal action, including filing a complaint under the Public Official Election Act."

In response, a Gwangju City official explained, "After confirming with the person involved, it was never intended to influence the election. When it was his turn for a toast, he just said it as a light-hearted remark without any particular intent," and added, "We are currently reviewing relevant regulations regarding possible actions."