'Kim Hye-kyung, Corporate Card Personal Use' Controversy... Jo Gwang-han, "Feeling Unbearable Anger"

Mayor Cho, "Suffering Unspeakable Pain Due to Retaliatory Administration and Illegal Disciplinary Demands"

Jokwanghan, Mayor of Namyangju City

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Regarding the audit of Namyangju City in Gyeonggi Province by Gyeonggi Province, Jo Gwang-han, the mayor of Namyangju City from the same party who had major conflicts with Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung during Lee's tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province, sharply criticized Lee over allegations of misuse of business promotion expenses during his governorship.

On the 4th, Mayor Jo posted a message titled "Reflecting on the Coffee Gift Certificate Incident" on his Facebook, directly attacking Candidate Lee by saying, "He falsely accused us, leaving our city employees with unforgettable humiliation and wounds."

He added, "I feel unbearable anger that Candidate Lee's spouse (Kim Hye-kyung) bought beef, sushi, sandwiches, and other items with business promotion expenses."

Mayor Jo linked the controversies surrounding Kim Hye-kyung's 'imperial protocol' and the 'private use of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Secretary Office's corporate card' to Candidate Lee and criticized him.

The 'coffee gift certificate' incident mentioned by Mayor Jo refers to the case in March 2020 when a Grade 6 Namyangju City official, Mr. A, purchased twenty 25,000 KRW coffee gift certificates with the mayor's business promotion expenses and distributed them to employees, for which Gyeonggi Province imposed a severe disciplinary action.

At that time, Mr. A distributed ten gift certificates each to employees at the health center, the township office, and the city hall as a gesture of encouragement for those struggling with COVID-19. The Gyeonggi Province audit team then punished Mr. A with a one-month suspension, citing 'misappropriation of public funds.'

Subsequently, Mr. A filed a lawsuit, and the court ruled that "the expenses were used lawfully following proper procedures," and canceled both the one-month suspension and the imposed fine.

Mayor Jo stated, "Due to Gyeonggi Province's retaliatory administration and unlawful disciplinary demands, an ordinary public official was stigmatized overnight as an embezzler and suffered indescribable pain for over a year."

He particularly claimed, "Regarding this matter, Candidate Lee posted a malicious message on his SNS on August 13, 2020, while serving as governor, stating that 'secretary office staff embezzled 250,000 KRW out of 500,000 KRW worth of coffee gift certificates intended for health center encouragement,' thereby branding our city officials as a corrupt group."

He continued, "(Candidate Lee's) twice posting false and distorted information on SNS, fabricating crimes and branding innocent people as criminals, was a malicious and petty act amounting to de facto character assassination against me and our city officials," adding, "The wounds and resentment from that will never be forgotten."

Candidate Lee also posted on his Facebook on November 23, 2020, that "Namyangju city officials embezzled half of the consolation goods meant for nurses struggling with COVID-19."

Mayor Jo further said, "I am truly shocked and filled with unbearable anger that Candidate Lee's spouse bought beef, sushi, sandwiches, and other items with business promotion expenses," and expressed regret, saying, "I feel sorry for not being able to fully protect the public official who received severe disciplinary action."

He added, "Candidate Lee himself said that there can be no partisan bias in eradicating illegal administration and corruption, so unless he is being hypocritical, he should hold himself to the strictest accountability by that same standard."

Meanwhile, on the 3rd, Candidate Lee apologized regarding the allegations surrounding Ms. Kim.

Candidate Lee said, "As governor, I failed to thoroughly check for any improper conduct by employees, and my spouse also failed to detect and prevent potentially problematic actions in advance," adding, "I thought I had tried to reflect on myself and those around me with a stricter standard, but it was still insufficient."

He also stated, "I hope the audit agency will thoroughly investigate whether there was any inappropriate use of corporate cards during my tenure as governor, including the reports by some media, and reveal the truth," and promised, "If any problems are found, I will take responsibility according to regulations."

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