Gwangju Chamber of Commerce, Turmoil Over 'Personnel Placement' After President's Reappointment

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Since Jeong Chang-seon was reappointed as the chairman of the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry, rumors have been rampant that he is privatizing the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce.

Not only were the members of the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce composed mainly of personnel from the construction industry or affiliated companies, but there have also been continuous controversies such as employee personnel requests and involvement of employees in bribery scandals.

According to the local business community on the 22nd, the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce appointed Chairman Jeong as the 24th chairman last March and elected 92 members including 8 vice chairmen, 2 auditors, 25 standing members, 9 special committee members, and 47 general members.

Among these members, two-thirds of the standing members who play executive roles were representatives from the construction industry or subcontractors related to the company, which caused dissatisfaction among other excluded industries and led to problems.

Businessman A said, "In the 23rd term, businessmen engaged in construction and manufacturing industries equally occupied half of the standing members, maintaining balance, but currently, the number of standing members related to manufacturing has drastically decreased," and expressed dissatisfaction, saying, "Under the pretext of generational change, members from construction and Joongheung-related companies have been active as standing members, excluding existing members."

Among the standing members, it is also reported that a senior executive of a media company owned by Chairman Jeong, who was previously known to have directly requested promotions for employees and became the subject of gossip among employees, is included.

Furthermore, there are claims of nepotism as Chairman Jeong allegedly turned a blind eye by not requesting police investigation into an employee who embezzled company funds.

The Gwangju Chamber of Commerce stated that recommending promotions during personnel seasons is being overinterpreted as a request, and that the embezzlement case was handled internally.

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