The labor community in South Gyeongsang Province has called for severe disciplinary action and the establishment of preventive measures against a Democratic Party Yangsan City Council member who directed abusive language and verbal violence toward city council staff.
On February 2, the Gyeongnam Regional Headquarters of the National Public Officials Labor Union and other organizations held a press conference at the Gyeongnam Provincial Government Press Center, urging, "The Democratic Party must impose severe disciplinary action on Kang Taeyoung, a Yangsan City Council member, who used his position to verbally abuse, insult, and intimidate city council staff."
The union claimed that on December 2 last year, at around 7 p.m., Kang visited a restaurant in Yangsan where the director of the city council office and three staff members were dining, and for about 20 minutes, hurled abusive language and verbal violence at the staff.
It was reported that while the director had briefly stepped away, Kang told the staff, "Hey, stop messing around," "Do you have ten civil servant IDs, you XX," "If you want to keep your position, stop fooling around and do your job properly," and "How can you not finish your work and still be drinking with the director in times like these?"
Later that same day, at around 10 p.m., he visited the city council office and, referring to two of the staff members he had verbally abused at the restaurant by name, forced another staff member who was on duty to print and show materials from a personal computer, under the pretext of checking how much work those staff members had completed before dining with the director.
The National Public Officials Labor Union Gyeongnam Regional Headquarters is holding a press conference urging severe disciplinary action against Kang Taeyoung, a Democratic Party council member of Yangsan City, who used abusive language, verbal violence, and intimidating behavior toward city council staff. Photo by Se Ryeong Lee
The union stated, "Although two months have passed since the incident, the Democratic Party provincial headquarters has remained silent, even when requested to meet with the chairperson," and insisted, "The provincial headquarters must impose decisive and responsible disciplinary action on Kang."
Kang Sudong, head of the Gyeongnam headquarters, criticized, "Kang's abusive language, insults, and degrading remarks, made from a position of power, are clear acts of workplace harassment and abuse of authority, violating the Yangsan City Council’s Code of Conduct, Code of Ethics, and related regulations."
He further stated, "Kang violated the Democratic Party’s rules and ethical standards, which prohibit defamation of others or the use of intimidating language while performing official duties, and inflicted severe psychological distress and lasting harm on the victims. Compared to the recent case where a ministerial candidate for the Ministry of Planning and Budget was disqualified for verbal abuse and abuse of power toward aides, Kang’s actions are even more serious and cannot be overlooked."
He also called on the Yangsan City Council to immediately discipline Kang and establish measures to prevent recurrence.
He demanded that the Democratic Party's Gyeongnam provincial headquarters convene an ethics tribunal meeting without delay to decide on disciplinary action against Kang.
The National Government Employees' Union Gyeongnam Regional Headquarters is delivering a request for severe disciplinary action against Kang Taeyoung, a Democratic Party Yangsan City Council member, who used abusive language, verbal violence, and intimidating behavior toward city council staff, to the Democratic Party provincial headquarters. Provided by the National Government Employees' Union Gyeongnam Regional Headquarters
The union declared, "We will not allow Kang’s abuse of power to be glossed over by watching public opinion or exploiting the upcoming local election climate," and immediately after the press conference, delivered a petition signed by 8,151 public officials and residents demanding severe disciplinary action against Kang to the Democratic Party provincial headquarters.
Previously, after receiving a report of the incident through the Grievance Counseling Committee, the Yangsan City Council convened the Code of Conduct Advisory Committee and determined that Kang’s behavior constituted a violation of the council member code of conduct.
Since the 20th of the same month, both the Ethics Advisory Committee and the Special Ethics Committee have been investigating the case.
Jung Sunghoon, chair of the Special Ethics Committee, said, "We are taking this matter very seriously, holding not only official but also multiple unofficial meetings," and added, "We will take strong action that meets the expectations of the citizens as much as possible."
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