Namyangju Mayor Joo Kwangdeok Urges Ban on Public Officials Attending His Book Publication Event

Namyangju-si in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 23rd that on the 20th it held an executives’ meeting with heads of bureaus, offices, and departments, where it ordered strict political neutrality from public officials ahead of the local elections and called for stronger public service discipline.

View of Namyangju City Hall. Provided by Namyangju City.

The meeting was convened to reaffirm the political neutrality of public officials ahead of the elections and to firmly establish public service discipline. Mayor Joo Kwangdeok of Namyangju-si, who attended the meeting, stated that all public officials must strictly fulfill their duty of neutrality in accordance with the law and principles.

Mayor Joo Kwangdeok made it clear that his book publication commemoration event scheduled for late February is a private event and asked that city officials be prohibited from attending. He noted that visits by public officials in the run-up to the elections could cause unnecessary misunderstandings both among citizens and internally and externally, and he repeatedly stressed that public officials should carry out their responsibilities for the 740,000 citizens without wavering, approaching their work with a stricter attitude and a heightened sense of responsibility.

On that day, Mayor Joo asked the heads of bureaus, offices, and departments attending the meeting to take special care to ensure that this intent is communicated accurately to all employees under their supervision.

The city plans to continue employee training and internal inspections ahead of the elections, focusing on compliance with the duty of political neutrality and the establishment of strong public service discipline. It also plans to repeatedly provide guidance on standards of conduct for public officials related to elections, in order to ensure the fair and transparent administration of election affairs.

An official from Namyangju-si said, “Local elections are an important process for realizing democracy and consolidating the local self-government system,” adding, “The neutrality of public officials is a value that is more important than anything else.” The official went on to say, “We will continue to provide trusted administration through a strict public service culture that meets the expectations of our citizens.”