Controversy Over Jeonnam Office of Education Public Relations Officer...Staff Say "There Is No One Like This Person"

Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] Education officials in Jeonnam have come out in support of the newly appointed public relations officer amid controversy over the appointment at the Jeonnam Office of Education.

According to the Jeonnam Office of Education on the 4th, the newly appointed public relations officer at the main office, Manager Kim, was registered as the representative of Company A, which signed two private contracts worth 14.97 million KRW for printed materials in July and one contract worth 1.95 million KRW last month.

In response, the Jeonnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) and others stated, “Pursuing private interests related to the duties of a public official cannot be considered fair job performance,” and demanded the withdrawal of the appointment, claiming that the private contracts between the Office of Education and Kim’s company violated the Public Official Conflict of Interest Prevention Act.

However, voices from the field were quite different. Staff expressed regret, saying, “The truth about Manager Kim is being distorted and misrepresented.”

In particular, employees at the main office and affiliated institutions said, “It is hard to find a professional like Manager Kim in the field of public relations,” and “During his previous tenure at the Jeonnam Office of Education’s PR office, Kim was recognized for his skills to the extent that he single-handedly produced and managed the ‘Jeonnam Education Newspaper.’”

They claimed that compared to general companies, Manager Kim quickly grasped tasks and handled work efficiently, which led employees to voluntarily entrust contracts to him.

One staff member said, “Company A was established after Manager Kim resigned at the start of the third term of the directly elected provincial superintendent,” and added, “The reason employees entrusted work to Company A was because they trusted Manager Kim, who understood the unique characteristics of education better than anyone else.”

An education sector insider pointed out, “During former Superintendent Jang Seok-woong’s tenure, Manager Kim helped with documents submitted to the Ministry of Education and various paperwork free of charge many times,” and said, “There are many hidden aspects behind this public relations officer controversy, and we need to read between the lines. What is visible is not everything.”

Meanwhile, Company A stated that after Manager Kim joined the superintendent election campaign, he left all management responsibilities to co-representative Park and even resigned from the co-representative position before his appointment as public relations officer.

Representative Park claimed, “Our company has been operated under a co-representative system for a long time. Manager Kim did not involve himself in company operations during the election campaign and transition committee period.”

He continued, “After Manager Kim joined the election campaign to ‘help a respected person,’ the Office of Education’s work requests suddenly stopped, which dealt a heavy blow to the company,” and expressed dissatisfaction, saying, “This contract proceeded independently of Manager Kim. The company is still struggling, and it is honestly frustrating as a representative that people keep associating Manager Kim with the company.”

An official from the Office of Education stated, “Contracts were signed in accordance with private contract regulations for each department of the education office,” and added, “There is no legal issue whatsoever.”

Manager Kim was in charge of public relations at the Kim Dae-jung superintendent election campaign, served as spokesperson and planning committee member at the Jeonnam Superintendent Transition Committee, and was appointed as the new public relations officer through a public recruitment process on the 1st.

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