Kim Haenggeum, Cheonan City Council Chair, Stalls Ethics Committee Referral Over 'Private Use of Official Vehicle'

Contrasted with Asan City Council Chairperson Hong Seongpyo, Who Was Referred to the Ethics Committee in Just One Day
Criticism Arises: "Why Is It Not Allowed for Lee Jaemyung but Allowed for Kim Haenggeum?"

On a public holiday, Cheonan City Council Chairperson Kim Haenggeum attended the People Power Party convention using an official vehicle accompanied by a city driver. Twelve Democratic Party-affiliated city council members submitted a disciplinary request against her, but controversy is growing as Kim Haenggeum has not initiated the process of referring the case to the Ethics Committee for seven days.

As even the referral to the Ethics Committee remains uncertain, the issue has sparked a debate in the local community regarding fairness, especially in comparison to Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jaemyung, who is currently on trial for similar charges. Critics are questioning, "Why is it not allowed for Lee Jaemyung but allowed for Kim Haenggeum?"

Previously, on May 9, Democratic Party city council members submitted a disciplinary request to the city council secretariat, citing Kim Haenggeum's "private use of an official vehicle" and "refusal to approve personnel proposals." The legislative team reported this to the chairperson on May 13.

However, since receiving the report, Chairperson Kim has not made any official statement regarding whether the case will be referred to the Special Ethics Committee.

Furthermore, in order to convene a plenary session, an Operations Committee meeting must be held, but the Operations Committee chair stated on May 19, "No agenda item has been submitted."

According to the Cheonan City Council meeting regulations, the chairperson must refer a disciplinary request to the Special Ethics Committee without delay upon receipt, and does not have the discretion to withhold or reject it arbitrarily.

Park Jonggap, Democratic Party floor leader, warned, "If the chairperson intentionally fails to refer the disciplinary request, it could be considered neglect of duty or abuse of authority."

This kind of "stalling" stands in stark contrast to the approach taken by neighboring local governments.

For example, Hong Seongpyo, chairperson of the Asan City Council, who caused controversy over drunk driving, received a disciplinary request on January 22 this year and referred himself to the Special Ethics Committee through a plenary session the very next day, January 23.

Unlike the Asan City case, where the procedure was completed in just one day, Chairperson Kim only issued an apology after the controversy intensified.

At the time of the convention, Chairperson Kim explained that it was "an official duty for information gathering," but the driver was processed as being on an official business trip and is scheduled to receive allowances and travel expenses.

The fuel costs for the official vehicle were covered by the council budget, and Kim claimed that meal expenses were paid personally. However, the details of business operation expenses have not yet been disclosed.

Additionally, controversy over personnel matters continues. In January, Chairperson Kim reportedly refused to approve the promotion of Employee A, who had been approved by the Personnel Committee, stating, "Too young to be promoted." The employee filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

The Board of Audit and Inspection concluded that there were no procedural issues with this matter, but Chairperson Kim has withheld approval of the personnel decision for over four months.

The city council secretariat is reviewing whether to reconvene the Personnel Committee based on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's inquiry results, but if an already approved agenda is reviewed again, it could escalate into another legal dispute.

Regarding this, a citizen (age 52) residing in Dujeong-dong commented, "I don't understand why my taxes were used for an official vehicle to attend the People Power Party convention," and pointed out, "I understand that Lee Jaemyung is on trial for private use of an official vehicle, so there is a fairness issue here."