Ministry of the Interior and Safety Extends Operation of 'Joint Inspection Team' Until End of May Ahead of Local Elections

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 29th that it will mobilize all audit capabilities to conduct public official inspections to ensure that the ‘8th Nationwide Local Elections,’ which are just over 60 days away, are held fairly.

Accordingly, the Ministry explained that the ‘Ministry of the Interior and Safety - City/Province Joint Inspection Team,’ which was organized from the time of the 20th presidential election public official inspections, will continue to operate until May 31, the day before the local election. The ‘Joint Inspection Team,’ operated jointly by the Ministry and cities and provinces nationwide, has been in operation since December 9, 2021, and has been expanded and organized into 49 teams with 496 members since February 15, 2022.

The Joint Inspection Team focuses on inspecting local government officials’ election interference acts such as ‘lining up for a specific candidate,’ ‘leaking internal data,’ ‘participating in election planning,’ and ‘expressing support or opposition for a specific party or candidate.’ It also concurrently inspects acts of public service discipline laxity that ride the election atmosphere, such as delays in handling civil complaints, providing undue favors, and unauthorized absence from the workplace.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety revealed that through the ‘20th Presidential Election Public Official Inspections,’ a total of 53 cases of public official misconduct were detected and strict disciplinary action was requested from the relevant local governments. To prevent similar cases from recurring in this local election, all local governments will be notified of violations so that all employees can review them, and the information will also be disclosed on the Ministry’s website.

Deputy Minister Ko Gyu-chang said, “For the local elections to be conducted fairly, the strict election neutrality and fair handling of duties by local government officials are of utmost importance,” and added, “We will make every effort in inspection activities to establish strict election neutrality and public service discipline among local government officials.”

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