Civil Complaints Flood National Petition System Over "Bullying Investigation"
Chungju City Internal Probe Finds "No Related Evidence"
Amid allegations of workplace bullying surrounding the resignation of administrative officer Kim Suntae, known as "Chungju Man," Chungju City has denied the claims.
Kim Seontae, Administrative Officer in charge of the Chungju City YouTube channel.Chungju City YouTube
On February 24, Chungju City announced that "several civil complaints have recently been filed through the National Petition System requesting an investigation into whether administrative officer Kim Suntae was subjected to collective bullying." Accordingly, the city’s Audit Office checked the facts with the Public Relations Office and nearby staff members, and explained that it concluded the allegations were not true.
After Kim submitted his resignation letter, claims began circulating online that there might have been internal conflict or an atmosphere of exclusion within the civil service organization. Some people framed it as a "bullying theory" or "internal conflict theory," spreading the suspicions further.
However, on February 16, Kim personally issued a statement saying, "The internal conflict, such as the so-called 'bullying theory' raised by some, is not true." He stressed, "My resignation is a decision I made after much consideration about achieving my personal goals and taking on new challenges in the future, and it is not because of any conflict with a particular individual or the organization."
Nevertheless, as related civil complaints were filed with the National Petition System, various interpretations have been circulating both inside and outside the local community. Attention is particularly focused on the background of his resignation because Kim, in his "Chungju Man" character, was a key figure in growing Chungju City’s YouTube channel "Chung TV."
Kim is reported to have submitted his resignation letter earlier this month and gone on extended leave, and he is expected to officially leave his post at the end of this month. Regarding the "Blue House job offer theory" raised in some quarters, he said, "I received a text message and met for about 10 minutes, during which we only talked to the extent of discussing my future plans and whether I was interested in public office; there was no concrete offer."
Meanwhile, following the resignation of "Chungju Man" Kim, the Chung TV channel, which at one point had close to 1 million subscribers, is reported to have lost about 200,000 subscribers.
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