"I Regret Becoming a Civil Servant"... Gwangju City Officials Expose Series of Power Abuse Cases

Overtime and Office Management Fund Issues Also Raised
City: "Significant Level of Power Abuse and Unfair Conduct Identified"
"Actions Will Be Taken Based on Investigation Results... Measures to Prevent Recurrence Will Be Prepared"

There have been a series of whistleblowing incidents by employees within Gwangju City Hall, exposing power abuse and unfair conduct by their superiors. Representative examples include superiors calling late at night to hurl verbal abuse, and the so-called "Executive Hospitality Day," during which employees pooled their own money to provide meals for their bosses. In response, the city has announced that it will conduct a fact-finding investigation and impose strict disciplinary measures.

Gwangju City Hall exterior view. Gwangju City

On May 8, Yonhap News reported, "Recently, a series of posts exposing so-called power abuse, including unfair work orders from superiors, have been uploaded to Gwangju City's internal bulletin board." The whistleblower posts included cases such as, "The team leader calls late at night after drinking and swears at me, telling me to do my job better." In response to these revelations, other employees have posted sympathetic comments, such as, "I regret becoming a public servant."

Following these developments, the city announced that it would accept reports of power abuse and began investigating the alleged victims. In addition, the city has launched fact-finding investigations into further allegations, such as improper receipt of overtime pay and embezzlement of office management funds. Furthermore, the city has defined the "Executive Hospitality Day," during which lower-ranking civil servants pool their own money to provide meals for higher-ranking officials with personnel evaluation authority, such as directors and department heads, as a harmful custom, and is conducting a thorough investigation into its prevalence.

A Gwangju City official stated, "Based on our internal assessment, we have determined that there is a significant level of unfair conduct and power abuse, not just isolated complaints," adding, "We are treating this matter with utmost seriousness and will take disciplinary action and implement measures to prevent recurrence based on the results of the investigation." Mayor Kang Gijung also urged staff during a regular meeting on the same day not to engage in power abuse. Mayor Kang requested, "Please do not drink and abuse your authority," and added, "Do not cause pain to thousands of public officials?please report such behavior."