The Gwangju Namgu District civil servants' union has condemned District Chief Kim Byungnae, claiming that the disciplinary action against a senior official accused of verbal abuse and power harassment toward female civil servants was reduced in severity following a retrial.
On the 29th, the Namgu branch of the Gwangju Regional Headquarters of the Korean Government Employees' Union issued a statement saying, "We denounce the district chief for shielding and accommodating the perpetrator, senior official A," and added, "Given the investigation and handling of the power harassment case, we question whether the district chief is even aware of the pain and suffering of the victimized employees."
The union continued, "On March 17, the Citizens' Grievance Committee found that some of the perpetrator's power harassment was substantiated and concluded it warranted disciplinary action. However, the district chief suddenly refused to accept the committee's decision and requested a retrial," they criticized.
They further stated, "As a result of the retrial, some parts of the original decision were changed and the level of punishment was reduced. In particular, a 'warning'?which was not included in the original decision?was added to the recommended actions, raising concerns that this could serve as grounds for granting the perpetrator impunity. Even if the committee's independence is guaranteed, the fact that the district chief, who has the authority to appoint committee members, requested a retrial likely put pressure on the committee members," they argued.
Previously, official A was accused of insulting and verbally abusing staff while serving as a department head in Namgu in the second half of last year. The committee determined that A's actions constituted workplace power harassment and notified Namgu that A was subject to disciplinary action, but Namgu requested a retrial.
Recently, as a result of the retrial, the committee informed Namgu that A's case "warrants disciplinary action or a warning."
Based on the retrial results, Namgu plans to finalize whether to discipline A and notify the committee of the outcome within 30 days.
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