"Alternative Service During Term" Kim Minseok Retains Council Seat... Court Rules "Not Subject to Concurrent Position Ban"

Started Alternative Service After 2022 Local Elections
"Social Service Agents Do Not Have Public Official Status"

Kim Minseok, a member of the Gangseo District Council in Seoul who had been notified of the loss of his council seat due to his service as a social service agent during his term, will be able to retain his position as a council member following a court decision.

According to the legal community on December 8, the Seoul Administrative Court’s Division 4 recently ruled partially in favor of Kim Minseok in a lawsuit he filed against the Gangseo District Council and its chairperson, seeking confirmation of his status as a local council member.

After being elected as a Gangseo District Council member in the 2022 local elections, Kim received a call-up notice for social service agent duty from the Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration in January 2023. He then applied for permission to hold a concurrent position from the Yangcheon-gu Facilities Management Corporation. When the corporation granted permission on the condition that he refrain from political activities, he submitted his resignation from the People Power Party and began his service as a social service agent.

Subsequently, when the Military Manpower Administration expressed the opinion that “basic-level council members are not eligible for concurrent position approval,” the corporation revoked its permission. The chairperson of the Gangseo District Council then notified Kim of the loss of his council seat, citing Articles 43(1)8 and 43(1)9 of the Local Autonomy Act.

The court dismissed Kim’s claim seeking confirmation of the invalidity of the notification itself as inadmissible, but accepted his claim for confirmation of his status as a council member. The court pointed out that “a social service agent does not fall under the category of ‘a position with the status of a public official under other laws and regulations’ as stipulated in Article 43(1)8 of the Local Autonomy Act,” and noted that there are no provisions in the Military Service Act or elsewhere that confer public official status on social service agents.

The court also stated that “it is difficult to view social service agents as included in ‘positions that cannot be held concurrently under other laws’ as specified in Article 43(1)9,” and ruled that it cannot be interpreted that social service agents are, in principle, prohibited from concurrently serving as local council members, thus siding with Kim.