Criticism Over Minimizing Testing of Gangnam-gu Community Center Staff After COVID-19 Confirmed Visitor

Integrated Union Gangnam-gu Branch Vice President Kwon Sun-pyo Sparks Debate by Posting Criticism on Union Bulletin Board on the 16th Over Lack of Consideration for Dong Community Center Staff

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Since the 10th, starting with the Yeoksam 2-dong Community Service Center in Gangnam-gu, followed by Nonhyeon 1-dong and Samseong 2-dong, concerns have grown as COVID-19 confirmed cases visited these centers, leading to the spread and closure of the community service centers. However, it has been reported that disinfection was conducted in the shortest possible time and COVID testing was carried out only within the minimum necessary scope, sparking controversy.

This was revealed in a post on the union bulletin board on the 16th by Kwon Sun-pyo, deputy head of the Gangnam-gu branch of the Integrated Union.

The union criticized, "Due to a person who left their home during self-quarantine to travel abroad, all departments of Gangnam-gu Office have been in turmoil, and although daily visits by staff are the principle, there is blatant double standards."

They also pointed out, "It seems that the executives still perceive COVID-19 as just a simple cold, thinking that washing hands well and maintaining a safe distance is enough. Is it really sufficient to just tell residents, who are trembling with anxiety due to the daily spread of COVID-19, that thorough disinfection has been done and they can use the facilities with peace of mind?"

The union expressed disappointment, saying that although closure of government offices due to COVID-19 spread was expected at some point, holding daily countermeasure meetings only to close the doors for a single day reflects trivial desk-bound administration by executives who have been sitting around every day doing nothing meaningful.

In particular, they stated, "Community service centers are civil service departments visited by an unspecified large number of people, so closing them due to COVID-19 does not seem very strange, but on the other hand, strictly speaking, this is a man-made disaster."

They added, "Right after COVID-19 occurred, employee safety was neglected; only one mask was given while employees were sent to inspect restaurants, goshiwons (boarding houses), lodging facilities, religious institutions, and more. Not only that, they were burdened with duties such as working at Suseo Station SRT (high-speed train) and managing self-quarantined individuals, opening the doors and potentially becoming infection sources. During the 21st National Assembly election period, a large number of Chinese-made masks were purchased and distributed to community centers, and residents were either visited or told to visit, and now masks are regularly distributed every two months on a rotating basis by department," they claimed.

Kwon, the deputy head, criticized, "What’s even more ridiculous is that when urgent, frontline civil service staff were encouraged and burdened with all sorts of tasks, but in the COVID department evaluations, all community service centers were completely excluded."

Furthermore, they scolded that the recipients of commendations from the district office were filled with people who never even handed out a single mask to residents and had poor records in managing self-quarantined individuals.

What’s more astonishing is that among the 70 awardees, nearly 20 were middle managers of grade 6 or higher. It is understood that some of them benefited greatly from COVID-related work beyond their original duties and received high performance evaluations, showing no trace of conscience. They questioned how important the work these individuals were actually handling during the COVID period was.

On the contrary, they introduced those who quietly worked. Since 2019, 34 visiting nurses have been struggling for the welfare of the elderly in the welfare teams of each community service center. They belong to the Health Management Division and perform visiting nursing management duties. Being part of the public health center, they have taken on roles such as operating screening clinics, managing self-quarantined individuals, and working night shifts at the health center since COVID-19.

They expressed regret that most of these are new employees who neither have the capacity to blame unfair working conditions nor the strength to improve them.

What is heartbreaking is that not a single one of them can be found among the 70 commendation recipients, and they lamented whether it is right for those who are not even affiliated with the community service centers to be mobilized for managing self-quarantined individuals.

Accordingly, the Integrated Union requested the Disaster Safety Division to disclose the status of all self-management employees. They want to find out which influential employees were excluded and which employees are still being forced to sacrifice.

The union pointed out that while it is a serious fault that some employees did not manage self-quarantined individuals at all, there is also a problem with the lax management of employees by the Disaster Safety Division.

Deputy Head Kwon concluded, "In this invisible battlefield of the COVID-19 crisis, I ask that self-management be transparent and efficient so that trust can be built among employees, preventing suspicion and alienation."

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