'Work and Moxibustion'... District Office Head Faces Privatization Controversy Over Personal Moxibustion Room in Public Building

Storage Room Converted for Private Use; Facility Removed Amid Growing Controversy
Oh: "Equipment Purchased with Personal Funds... Apologies for Private Use"

The head of the Busan Buk-gu Office has come under fire for allegedly privatizing public office space after it was revealed that he set up a personal moxibustion treatment room inside the district office building for his own use.

On January 30, Yonhap News reported that Tae-won Oh, the head of Busan Buk-gu Office, had converted a storage area within the district office building into a moxibustion treatment room about five to six months ago and had been using it for personal health management.

The space in question is a storage room of about 10 to 15 square meters, located opposite the staff duty room and shower room. Inside, there was a bed, a sitz bath device, hundreds of moxibustion tools, heating equipment, and ventilation facilities. It was also reported that a locking device had been installed to restrict access.

Busan Buk-gu Office. Yonhap News

The room was located in a relatively secluded part of the office building and was usually kept locked. Since duty shifts only run until 11 p.m., most staff members were unaware of the facility’s existence. However, some employees testified that the smoke and smell from moxibustion had spread to adjacent hallways and offices.

It was confirmed that only Oh himself used the moxibustion room. Under current medical law, it is illegal for unlicensed individuals to perform procedures on others, but self-treatment is not punishable. Oh explained, "All the supplies and equipment used for the treatments were purchased with my own money, and no office budget or personnel were used."

Oh stated, "I usually went to a Korean medicine clinic, but due to a lack of time, I used the vacant storage space in the office. I used it about once or twice a month, for around 30 minutes after work hours or before events." He added, "I sincerely apologize for using public office space for personal purposes and promise that this will never happen again."

As the controversy grew, the Buk-gu Office removed all of the moxibustion equipment from the facility on the morning of January 30.

In response, the Busan branch of the Democratic Party of Korea issued a statement criticizing the incident, saying, "Regardless of whether the equipment was purchased with personal funds, using a public office building as a space for personal health management is inappropriate in itself."

Meanwhile, the Buk-gu Office is currently pursuing the construction of a new office building to address issues of aging infrastructure and lack of space.