[Exclusive] Seongnam City Breaks Promise of Job Security for Seongnam FC Staff, Takes Personnel Action... Lee Jae-myung Approval

Acquired from Unification Church Foundation in 2013
Employment Guarantee Conditions and Budget Taken
Audit and Early Retirement Applications Within a Year
Remaining Staff Assigned to Marginal Positions
Seongnam City Official Fills Vacant Posts
"Preliminary Work for Mayor Lee Jae-myung's Control of the Club"
Analysis by Football Officials at the Time
Lee's Side: "Personnel Changes Inevitable, Some Objections"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] It has been confirmed that Seongnam FC football club received unusual personnel measures such as early retirement from Seongnam City just before receiving sponsorship funds suspected of being quid pro quo. The organizational restructuring and personnel plans that sparked internal backlash were approved by Lee Jae-myung, then mayor of Seongnam City and owner of Seongnam FC, who is currently the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.

On the 11th, based on the ‘Seongnam FC Organizational Restructuring Plan’ reported in December 2014, which Asia Economy exclusively obtained, along with other materials and tips, Seongnam City reorganized the internal structure of Seongnam FC in December 2014 and took unexpected personnel actions such as accepting early retirement applicants. In this process, most employees who had worked since the club’s predecessor, Seongnam Ilhwa Cheonma, were forced to resign. Seongnam City also took retaliatory personnel measures against employees who did not resign and remained.

◆ Seongnam City broke its ‘employment guarantee’ promise made during club acquisition, enforcing coercive personnel measures = The predecessor of Seongnam FC was the Seongnam Ilhwa Cheonma professional football club. In August 2013, the Unification Church Foundation, which operated the club, decided to withdraw, and two months later, Seongnam City took over the club. At that time, Seongnam City promised to guarantee the employment of existing employees who had worked at Seongnam Ilhwa. A football industry insider said, "At that time, the Unification Church Foundation left with the condition of employment guarantee, and Seongnam City took over all the physical and human resources, including the 1 billion KRW budget left behind." However, Seongnam City changed in July 2014. It conducted a surprise audit of the club and notified the club in December of the same year that it would reorganize some departments by merging and abolishing them. They also accepted early retirement applicants. The applicants were ‘employees who had worked for more than one year and wished to apply,’ and the personnel committee was to decide the candidates through a resolution. Inside the club, this was perceived as a ‘targeted personnel action’ against the remaining employees who had worked since the Seongnam Ilhwa era.

As a result, many employees quit the company, leaving only a few. In January 2015, Seongnam City transferred the remaining employees to a new department called the ‘Special Task Force for Revenue Increase.’ Their opinions were naturally ignored, and they were tacitly forced to resign by being made to work like ‘call center’ employees who only answered phones in a lobby meeting room without heating or cooling. After no significant achievements, this department was abolished, and all employees were reportedly made to leave.

◆ Suspicion of Lee’s direct approval as a preparatory step to seize control of Seongnam FC = It has been confirmed that candidate Lee signed all the organizational restructuring and personnel approval plans as the mayor of Seongnam at the time. Legal and football industry insiders analyzed that Mayor Lee might have been conducting preparatory work to seize control of the club by planting many close associates from Seongnam City into the club. In fact, the positions vacated by departing employees were filled by Seongnam City officials. An insider familiar with the club’s situation at the time said, "During the first year after the club’s founding, personnel changes were made four or five times a month, with many Seongnam City public officials moving to the club," adding, "Before starting the personnel work, Seongnam City pressured employees to resign by mobilizing labor attorneys and lawyers."

It was also confirmed that many public officials who led the club audit and organizational restructuring at Seongnam City were transferred to the Gyeonggi Provincial Government after Mayor Lee became governor of Gyeonggi Province and are still working there. Subsequently, from 2015 to 2017, Seongnam FC received 16 billion KRW from six local companies under the name of sponsorship and advertising fees, leading to views that the large-scale personnel measures were preparatory steps to receive sponsorship funds. Regarding the sponsorship funds, suspicions of quid pro quo to resolve corporate issues have been continuously raised, and the police are currently conducting a reinvestigation.

The Lee Jae-myung campaign explained, "At the time, we tried to accommodate as many employees as possible, but since the nature of the club was changing, some personnel transfers were inevitable, which caused some objections," adding, "Seongnam FC was a model case that led a club on the verge of dissolution to reestablishment."

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