Gwangju Namgu Official Accused of Power Abuse Receives Warning Without Record... Union Protests

Exterior view of Gwangju Namgu District Office.

The labor union has voiced its opposition after a senior official at Gwangju Namgu District Office, who was accused of abusing power against colleagues in the same department, received what they describe as a slap-on-the-wrist disciplinary action.

According to Gwangju Namgu District Office and other sources on June 16, the city of Gwangju recently convened a disciplinary committee and issued a warning without record to the head of District A in Namgu, who had been referred to the committee for alleged abuse of power against staff members. While this warning entails personnel disadvantages, such as restrictions on awards, it does not constitute a formal disciplinary measure as defined by law.

In accordance with regulations stipulating that disciplinary actions for officials at grade 5 or above are handled by the city’s disciplinary committee, the case of the head of District A was also managed by this committee. The committee, comprised of a total of 18 members?including city officials, lawyers, and professors?reached this decision after a meeting held on June 5.

In response, the Namgu Branch of the Gwangju Regional Headquarters of the Korean Government Employees’ Union criticized the decision, calling it both a slap on the wrist and a de facto exoneration. The union pointed out that the Namgu Citizens’ Grievance Committee had determined that the actions of the head of District A constituted abuse of power, yet no formal disciplinary action was taken.

A representative of the Namgu Branch stated, "This will go down as a shameful example of a senior official not being disciplined despite abusing power," and added, "Such lenient handling of these cases is the reason why abusive practices persist in the public sector. We plan to discuss countermeasures through the operations committee."

The head of District A was referred to the disciplinary committee after being accused of treating four female employees in a demeaning manner while serving as a department head in Namgu from July to December last year.

It was found that, over several months, the official repeatedly referred to a particular female employee as the "pantry manager" and verbally abused staff in front of both colleagues and civil petitioners in the office, saying things like, "You people can’t do anything right."

After receiving a report from the Namgu Government Employees’ Union, the Namgu Citizens’ Grievance Committee launched an investigation and, earlier this year, concluded that the actions of the head of District A constituted workplace abuse and informed Namgu that this was grounds for disciplinary action.

However, Namgu District Office requested a review by the committee, attaching past relevant case law and asking for a reconsideration of both sides’ positions. Subsequently, the committee revised its assessment, stating that the actions of the head of District A constituted either grounds for disciplinary action or a matter requiring caution.