Despite Her Own Allegations Proven False, Chairman Delays Approval for Over Four Months
Promoted Employee Passed Over: "Unable Even to Receive Training... Feeling Deeply Discouraged"
Chairman Kim Haenggeum held an emergency press conference on January 16, claiming, "I did not approve the personnel proposal due to misconduct by the Secretary-General in personnel matters."
Kim Haenggeum, chairman of the Cheonan City Council in South Chungcheong Province and a member of the People Power Party, refused to approve the promotion of an employee who had been placed on the promotion list through legitimate procedures, citing the reason that the employee was "too young to be promoted." As a result, the employee filed a complaint against Chairman Kim with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.
According to reports, on May 18, employee A issued a statement to colleagues, saying, "On January 7, I was approved as a candidate for promotion to level 5 by the personnel committee, but Chairman Kim Haenggeum has refused to approve it. The promotion process has been suspended for over four months, and I have not even been able to receive leadership training."
The employee further emphasized, "Promotion to level 5 is a dream for any civil servant who started at level 9. Despite passing the legitimate procedures, I have been deprived of both training and appointment opportunities based solely on the judgment of a single person."
The employee continued, "I have suffered from guilt, wondering if I was the cause of the personnel issue, but I recently learned that Chairman Kim Haenggeum opposed my promotion because of my age. This constitutes a violation of the right to equality under Article 11 of the Constitution," explaining the reason for the complaint.
On May 16, employee A filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. The petition alleges "a human rights violation for refusing to approve a promotion decided by the personnel committee on the grounds of age."
This personnel delay is also connected to Chairman Kim Haenggeum's claims of "personnel misconduct" raised in January.
At that time, Chairman Kim held a press conference and claimed, "The Secretary-General violated personnel procedures and pressured me to approve the promotion of a junior colleague with whom he has a personal relationship." Kim stated that she had requested an anti-corruption audit from the Board of Audit and Inspection.
However, subsequent verification revealed that the audit was merely a simple report submitted through the National Sinmungo petition system, and the Board of Audit and Inspection concluded, "This is not a violation of the Local Public Officials Appointment Decree," and closed the case on April 3.
Chairman Kim stated, "I will take responsibility according to the results," but has not taken any follow-up actions for over a month since then.
As of now, Chairman Kim has still not approved the personnel policy report, causing delays in all personnel matters for the first half of the year. Although a separate personnel plan was drafted and submitted to the Secretariat, internal controversy continues because, under regulations, this plan was arbitrarily created and differs from the committee's decision.
Administrative experts point out that delaying an appointment in disregard of the personnel committee's decision could constitute a legal issue.
An administrative law attorney stated, "If, after the personnel committee's decision, an appointment is delayed or training is restricted without any legal grounds, it could not only violate the Local Public Officials Act but also constitute abuse of authority or infringement of the right to equality."
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