[Reporter's Notebook] District Official Takes 'Retirement Trips' Abroad on Taxpayer Money

Exterior view of Gwangju Namgu District Office.

Recently, staff at the Gwangju Namgu District Office have expressed disapproval over a senior official who, ahead of his honorary retirement scheduled for July 1, went on two "retirement trips" funded by taxpayer money.

The overseas business trips taken by the director of the Culture and Environment Bureau at Namgu District Office included a four-day trip to Japan from June 24 to 27 for the "Sustainable Tourism Local Government Council Overseas Official Trip," and an eight-day trip to Switzerland from May 24 to 31 for the "48th Cheongbaek Public Service Award Overseas Official Trip."

Although the Japan trip was attended by five people including the director, criticism has arisen over the waste of public funds, as the combined cost of the two trips approached 20 million won.

The director also specified "benchmarking sustainable tourism governance operations" as the purpose of the Japan trip in the official plan. However, there are doubts as to how any benchmarking could be applied to district office operations, given that he was set to retire just a week later.

The Switzerland trip also raises several questions upon closer examination. This overseas trip was carried out according to the regulations for the Cheongbaek Public Service Award. The regulations state that public officials who receive the award are to be given opportunities to visit advanced sites both domestically and abroad, but the expenses must be covered by each local government.

However, when the director was selected as a candidate for the Cheongbaek Public Service Award in December of last year, he was serving as the head of the General Affairs Division, which is responsible for screening overseas training applications. This has led to suspicions of "self-awarding." Similarly, the Switzerland trip was justified as "benchmarking Switzerland's historic urban planning," and a return report is required to be submitted by June 30, but it has not yet been filed.

There is growing discontent among staff regarding the director's "retirement trips." In an effort to reduce expenses, the district office decided to scale back the overseas training programs for staff, which had been implemented since 2022, and significantly tighten the screening process starting this year. As a result, staff members seeking to go on overseas trips must present detailed training plans, including the information and case studies they intend to gather, to a review committee for approval. Overseas training for staff is limited to 2 million won per person, but complaints have emerged that "both the budget and procedures were specially favored for the director."

The director explained, "I had to attend the Japan trip because the district mayor and deputy mayor were unable to go due to personal reasons." However, given his previous actions, it is suspected that he prioritized personal gain over the interests of remaining staff.

As a result, there are calls for stricter and fairer review procedures to prevent overseas official trips funded by taxpayer money from being reduced to personal benefits.

A member of the Namgu District Council pointed out, "When the district office organizes overseas trips for staff, they fail to report them to the council, and I only learned about the director's Japan trip after the fact, leaving no way to provide oversight. It is not helpful to district administration for a public official about to retire to go on two overseas trips, and this was a privilege granted by the district mayor."