"Thank You, Mayor. We Respect You": Praise Posts Flood Gangneung City Board, But the Truth Revealed

Gangneung Civic Group: "Mayor Ordered Online Comments"
Pro-Mayor Posts Also Appeared on Internal Administrative Network
City: "Intended to Correct Misinformation"

Allegations have been raised that Kim Honggyu, mayor of Gangneung, instructed public officials to post comments online regarding the drought, as public dissatisfaction grew amid the severe drought and a large amount of misinformation circulated online.

Kim Honggyu, mayor of Gangneung, is announcing drought response measures at the disaster situation room of Gangneung City Hall, Gangwon. Photo by Yonhap News

According to Yonhap News on September 10, the civic group Gangneung Citizens Action stated on social media that during the period of extreme drought, "Mayor Kim Honggyu instructed staff to correct false information, inform the public of the facts, and post both articles and comments on the internet."

The group further claimed, "At an emergency meeting held at City Hall on August 29, attended by about 60 female public officials, Mayor Kim Honggyu said there was a lot of misinformation and critical content in the media and online regarding the drought and water shortages. He asserted that such content provokes and divides citizens, and instructed staff to respond actively."

It was specifically reported that staff were directed to actively post comments on the Gangneung Mom Cafe online community. In relation to this, a department head from a major city hall division conveyed the following message to another department head: "I hope that the efforts of the mayor and our staff to overcome the drought will not be in vain. If any staff members are members of the Gangneung Mom Cafe, please also post comments refuting false information so that accurate information can be delivered."

This period coincided with the implementation of full-scale water restrictions, during which criticism of the city intensified due to perceived lack of preparedness for the drought. Subsequently, some comments defending the city appeared on the Mom Cafe community.

Gangneung Saeol Administrative System Compliment Board. Gangneung Citizens Action, Yonhap News

The group also revealed that on August 30, a post titled "I Compliment Mayor Kim Honggyu" was registered on the "Compliment Board" of Gangneung's Saeol Administrative System, followed by over 100 complimentary comments. The Saeol Administrative System is an internal administrative network accessible only to public officials, who are the only ones able to write and access posts.

The anonymous post included statements such as, "Why is the Gangneung drought blamed on the incompetence of Gangneung City Hall officials and the mayor?", "Mayor Kim Honggyu and the staff did their utmost to secure water for daily use, conserve water, and mobilized all administrative resources to overcome the drought," "Thank you and I respect you, Mayor," and "If you continue to work solely for the citizens of Gangneung like the mayor does, I hope that one day your sincerity will be recognized"-all content defending the city.

Gangneung Citizens Action criticized, "At a critical time when every effort should be focused on overcoming the drought, the mayor was preoccupied with finding ways to turn around negative public opinion about himself and orchestrating public sentiment by mobilizing public officials. Strictly speaking, this can be seen as instructing public officials to manipulate public opinion through online comments."

The group added, "Accurate information can be sufficiently delivered through the Gangneung City website, emergency text alerts, and official briefings, yet until now, the city has not even sent a single text message about water shortages or service interruptions."

A Gangneung City official told Yonhap News, "Gangneung City is facing a variety of difficult circumstances. The intention was to correct misinformation about the drought response."