[Exclusive] "Hope Camp just a tool?"... Gwangju Nam-gu used Community Chest funds to favor the district mayor’s aides

Hope Camp for vulnerable groups held annually since 2019
Launched with the aim of broadening children’s horizons
In reality, work was funneled to a travel agency tied to the mayor’s aide
Budget nearly doubled...this year to be run in-house
Nam-gu’s explanation: “We assume we chose a familiar travel agency because it was for children”

Exterior view of the Gwangju Nam-gu Office building.

There are growing voices claiming that Gwangju Nam-gu’s “Hope Camp,” a program funded by the Community Chest of Korea in Gwangju and implemented to broaden the horizons of vulnerable groups, has degenerated into a vehicle for “taking care of close associates,” as the travel agency headed by a close aide to Nam-gu District Mayor Kim Byeongnae has monopolized the project for years. It has belatedly come to light that this event, which has been promoted under the seemingly laudable banner of a “camp for vulnerable children,” has in fact been used for several years since the launch of the 7th popularly elected administration as a means of favoring the mayor’s associates, raising questions about the ethical standards of the district chief.

According to Gwangju Nam-gu on the 25th, the district has been running the “Hope Camp” project every year for local children from vulnerable groups since 2019, after Nam-gu District Mayor Kim Byeongnae took office in the 7th popularly elected term. The project is being carried out to provide children in local social welfare facilities with opportunities for cultural experiences.

The budget for this project is financed by the Community Chest of Korea in Gwangju, which has provided more than 318 million won in support up to last year. By year, it was 34.5 million won in 2019, 38 million won in 2020, more than 43.9 million won in 2021, 30 million won in 2022, 60 million won in 2023, 60 million won in 2024, and more than 51.9 million won in 2025, meaning that compared with the early years of implementation, the amount spent in the later years nearly doubled.

From the start of the project in 2019 through 2022, most destinations were domestic tourist spots such as Jeju Island, Ulleungdo, Dokdo, and Yongin, but in 2023-2024 the trips expanded overseas to countries including Japan and Vietnam.

The Hope Camp was created with the aim of giving children in facilities the chance to broaden their horizons through domestic and overseas travel.

However, controversy is growing because all the service contracts to operate the Hope Camp have been carried out through Travel Agency A, whose chief executive is former aide Park, known to be a close associate of Nam-gu District Mayor Kim Byeongnae.

In fact, it has been confirmed that former aide Park served as public relations planning aide from September 2024 until April last year. It is known that even while serving as an aide, Park was involved in district office projects and secured contracts worth tens of millions of won.

Criticism is being raised that, despite the fact that the project requires a budget of tens of millions of won every year, it has been virtually monopolized by a single company through private contracts, effectively steering work toward that firm.

Nam-gu’s questionable recent actions are also drawing renewed attention. The district had originally planned to hold a three-day, two-night Hope Camp in Busan from the 26th to the 28th, but once reporting on the matter began, it abruptly decided to run the project on its own without using a travel agency.

A travel industry official who requested anonymity said, “Normally, when a public institution runs a project, several travel agencies compete, and the contract goes to the company that submits the most appropriate price. In this case, there was no competition, and it appears they may have taken advantage of inside information to draft an estimate matching the total budget and thereby profit,” adding, “Considering that this project costs tens of millions of won, it is not cheap compared with other travel agencies, and it is puzzling why the same company was used continuously for years.”

Regarding this, an official from Nam-gu said, “The community social security council is in charge of the project, so we do not know why contracts have been concluded with Travel Agency A for years. Since the project targets vulnerable groups, we can only speculate that it was carried out through a travel agency they were familiar with,” and added, “Although this is a project we are pursuing with good intentions, we thought it could be perceived negatively by those around us, so this year we decided to run it in-house instead of using Travel Agency A.”

Meanwhile, the reporting team made several attempts to contact former aide Park, the head of Travel Agency A, to hear his side, but was unable to reach him.