Gwangju Urban Corporation Executive Recruitment 'Recurring Noise'

5 Candidates for CEO, 4 for Business Director, and 3 for Non-Executive Auditor Apply

Interviews Scheduled for Next Month 3rd, Final Candidates Likely Recommended on 4th

Gwangju Urban Corporation building. Photo by Gwangju Urban Corporation

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The public corporation ‘Gwangju Metropolitan City Urban Corporation,’ which is fully funded and operated by Gwangju Metropolitan City, is currently facing internal and external controversies due to the ongoing ‘executive recruitment.’

According to Gwangju Urban Corporation on the 31st, the corporation announced earlier this month that it would recruit one each for the positions of Managing Director, Business Director, and Non-executive Auditor.

Five candidates applied for the Managing Director position, four for the Business Director, and three for the Non-executive Auditor.

The Executive Recommendation Committee completed the document screening on the 27th and plans to recommend two candidates each for Managing Director and Business Director after interviews on the 3rd of next month.

Following the Executive Recommendation Committee’s recommendation, the Managing and Business Directors are appointed by the corporation’s president, while the Non-executive Auditor is appointed by the Mayor of Gwangju.

The Executive Recommendation Committee, which oversees the entire executive recruitment process, consists of seven members: two recommended by Gwangju City, three by the City Council, and two by the Board of Directors.

However, recently, as the executive recruitment at Gwangju Urban Corporation has shown signs of overheating among applicants, unconfirmed rumors such as influence from Gwangju City and assistance from influential politicians have surfaced.

This situation is also closely related to public criticism that the executive positions at the Urban Corporation have traditionally been used as a job security measure for retired public officials or as political rewards following mayoral elections.

Controversies surrounding the Urban Corporation’s executive recruitment have been recurring. In 2014, there was controversy over a candidate with a political background, and in 2017, a ‘self-recruitment’ controversy arose when a member of the Executive Recommendation Committee became a final candidate.

Additionally, in September last year, the Urban Corporation was involved with former Gwangju Deputy Mayor Jeong Jong-je, who was indicted on charges including violations of the Public Official Election Act, and at that time, an executive, Mr. A, was subjected to a search and seizure by prosecutors for recruiting 62 party members.

Despite various controversies such as applicants’ past ‘drunk driving’ records, mistakes in handling the ‘Eodeungsan Tourist Complex Development Project’ during their current tenure, and political power-related solicitations, the Executive Recommendation Committee plans to recommend the final candidates on the 4th of next month.

Regarding all these controversies, No Kyung-su, president of the Urban Corporation, stated, “Intervening in the middle is not appropriate. The Executive Recommendation Committee will discuss the details.”

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