Gwangju Seo-gu Executive Branch and Council Clash Over Opinions 'Heated'

Assemblyman Kim Oksu "Allegations of Excessive Political Acts by District Mayor's Spouse"

Executive Branch "Baseless and Personal Attack Questions Undermine Council Authority"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, dismissed Kim Oksu councilor's inquiry about district administration as an 'ad hominem question' at the Seo-gu Council plenary session on the 20th.

According to Seo-gu Council and Seo-gu on the 21st, at the 2nd plenary session of the 282nd extraordinary meeting held the previous day, Councilor Kim Oksu mentioned ▲the grounds for refusal to submit materials ▲the background of the district mayor's spouse's participation in overseas volunteer work and suspicions of inflating volunteer achievements ▲the current status of the proposed merger of Sangmu and Chipyeong Middle Schools during the district administration inquiry time.

Councilor Kim said, “I requested a list of employees who underwent investigations, audits, or inquiries related to work, but received materials with excessively redacted content that could not be verified,” and demanded, “Please clarify the persons involved and behaviors related to internal corruption cases specified in last year's integrity survey data.”

He also inquired about the spouse of Seo Daeseok, the district mayor.

Councilor Kim claimed, “There is great concern among those around about the district mayor's spouse's excessive political activities,” adding, “Despite lacking qualifications, the spouse participated in overseas volunteer work, which involved excessive protocol and schedule changes, causing backlash.”

He also emphasized, “There are rumors that several coercive orders were given to inflate volunteer achievements.”

He asked about the current status of the 'Sangmu-Chipyeong Middle School merger' initiative, which was scrapped last year.

Councilor Kim said, “I emphasized that the school merger should be properly re-promoted to contribute to residents' convenience and earnestly requested thorough consultation with the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education during the administrative audit,” and asked, “Please explain the progress.”

In response, the executive branch argued that the councilor, who should oversee the executive, was forcing illegal acts by requesting materials containing sensitive personal information.

They also protested that baseless 'hearsay'-style suspicions were being raised, which is clear defamation and emotional legislative activity.

District Mayor Seo Daeseok explained, “Regarding the deletion of content in the submitted materials, we followed the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 'Local Council Operation Guidebook,'” adding, “We deleted parts that could identify specific individuals such as names within the scope of compliance with the Personal Information Protection Act.”

Regarding issues related to the spouse, he stated, “We recruited participants twice for overseas volunteer recruitment but fell short, and my wife was recommended by several volunteer organizations, so she participated despite the short notice,” and “The registration of volunteer achievements is approved by the volunteer achievement approval office, so there is no problem.”

He also said, “The workshop schedule change was made at the request of women's organizations, and the part about involvement in personnel hiring is being conducted fairly according to procedures and regulations.”

Regarding the progress of the Sangmu-Chipyeong Middle School merger, he stated, “School merger work is the inherent task of the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, so there are limits to the district's proactive promotion,” and “I understand that the Office of Education plans to conduct multifaceted reviews, including school relocation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.