Dismissal of Choi Chang-hak, President of Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation, over Abuse of Power Allegations

Choi Chang-hak, President of the Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation, is reporting on business at the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee audit held on October 14 last year. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] Choi Chang-hak, president of Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation (LX), who faced allegations of 'gapjil' abuse of power, has been dismissed.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and LX on the 3rd, the Ministry of Personnel Management notified President Choi of the dismissal decision the day before.

Last year, during the National Assembly audit and media reports, allegations of gapjil against President Choi surfaced. It was reported that he was accompanied by an executive secretary and a driver when going for early morning exercise and used company vehicles and staff for personal errands.

He also caused controversy by signing a business agreement with Gyeongsangbuk-do despite the candidate site review for LX's drone education center not being completed.

The Ministry of Land conducted an audit on President Choi afterward and concluded that he violated duties of integrity and diligence in his work. The Ministry recently recommended his dismissal to the Blue House, which accepted it and notified the dismissal through the Ministry of Personnel Management.

The Ministry of Land concluded that President Choi's use of staff during early morning exercise violated the duty of integrity under the Anti-Corruption Act. The controversy related to the drone education center was judged to be a violation of the duty of diligence under the Public Institution Operation Act.

President Choi took office in July 2018 and had about 1 year and 3 months left in his term. He served as Director of the e-Government Bureau of the Government Innovation Committee under the Presidential Office during the Roh Moo-hyun administration and also served as director of the Daegu Digital Industry Promotion Agency.

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