Participant Autonomy 21 Urges Resignation of Gwangju Buk-gu Council Member Amid Controversy Over 'Illegal Private Contracts'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] A civic group in Gwangju Metropolitan City has recently called for the voluntary resignation of a member of the Gwangju Buk-gu Council who caused controversy over an ‘illegal private contract’.

Participation and Autonomy 21 stated on the 10th, “Under the one-party dominance of the Democratic Party, excessive misconduct by affiliated local council members continues to appear,” and urged, “The Democratic Party and the Buk-gu Council should disclose measures to prevent recurrence and create strengthened ethical regulations.”

The group emphasized, “It has been revealed that a member of the Gwangju Buk-gu Council secured 11 private contracts worth approximately 67 million won from the Buk-gu Office over about a year from March last year to May this year through a company registered under his wife’s name as the representative,” adding, “After being elected as a Buk-gu Council member in 2018, he newly registered a printing and outdoor advertising company, which he concurrently held, under his wife’s name as a new corporation, and registered another company without reporting concurrent positions, thereby securing private contracts from the district office and causing greater controversy.”

They continued, “Article 33, Paragraph 2 of the ‘Act on Contracts to Which Local Governments Are Parties’ (Local Contract Act) clearly states that if a local council member’s spouse is a business operator, they cannot enter into private contracts with the local government for profit.”

They argued, “Therefore, in this case, the council member clearly violated the Local Contract Act and breached the ‘avoidance of improper vested interest involvement’ stated in the statement issued by 18 Buk-gu Council members in December last year following the embezzlement and false business trip incident involving Chairperson Ko Jeomrye.”

They also pointed out, “Since seven private contracts were made even after the December statement, the council member cannot avoid criticism as a corrupt local council member and reproach from residents.”

Meanwhile, it is reported that the Democratic Party Gwangju City Party has referred the council member to the Ethics Tribunal, and the Buk-gu Council also plans to refer the case to the Ethics Committee.

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