Grade 3 Personnel Exchange Dispute... Gwangju City "Agreement Violation" Nam-gu "Not True"

Si "Personnel exchanges suspended... Principles must be upheld"

Namgu "No procedural issues with internal promotions"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Gwangju Metropolitan City and Nam-gu are showing continuous clashes over the appointment of the deputy district mayor (Grade 3).

Gwangju City claims that the promotion of the deputy district mayor was forcibly carried out and that it violated the personnel exchange agreement, while Nam-gu has taken the opposite stance, creating a chilly atmosphere.

On the 19th, Moon Young-hoon, Deputy Mayor of Gwangju City, took a hardline stance at a press briefing, stating, "We will suspend the personnel exchange agreement with Nam-gu and hold them accountable."

The content of the personnel exchange agreement mentioned by Deputy Mayor Moon is as follows.

When a vacancy occurs in the deputy district mayor position due to entering a retirement leave before retirement, the agreement stipulates that Nam-gu should fill the vacancy with its own promoted personnel or request the city hall to send a civil servant.

Personnel exchanges have been conducted every January 1st, and based on this standard, the deputy district mayor of Nam-gu became a retirement leave candidate, creating a vacancy, and there was no one internally qualified for Grade 3 promotion.

Therefore, Nam-gu should have requested a deputy district mayor candidate from the city instead of promoting internally.

This is why Deputy Mayor Moon publicly pointed out it as a "clear violation of the personnel exchange agreement."

Deputy Mayor Moon firmly stated that he would not accept Nam-gu's request for related consultations after January 17th, when the minimum promotion period for Grade 3 eligible candidates comes out.

He expressed concern, saying, "Accepting Nam-gu's request would cause confusion not only in the city's personnel schedule but also in the personnel schedules of deputy district mayors in other autonomous districts."

He added, "It is an act that breaks the trust of other autonomous districts that have faithfully implemented the agreement, so it is absolutely unacceptable."

In response, a Nam-gu official said, "On January 1st, the deputy district mayor had not entered retirement leave, so there was no vacancy, and thus no reason to request a deputy district mayor candidate from the city."

He continued, "Later (after January 1st), the deputy district mayor applied to enter retirement leave starting from the 26th, creating a vacancy," and explained, "We promoted internally because a candidate who met the minimum promotion period for Grade 3 became available."

He also said, "We will continue efforts to maintain personnel exchanges through dialogue with Gwangju City."

Since the personnel agreement between the 8th elected Gwangju City and the five autonomous districts has not been concluded, they explained that the Grade 3 promotion was decided based on the 7th elected personnel agreement, which recognizes the autonomous district's internal promotion when a Grade 3 vacancy occurs in the deputy district mayor position, and the Local Autonomy Act.

Nam-gu held a personnel committee meeting on the 18th and approved the promotion of Lee Hyun, Director of the Autonomous Administration Bureau, to Grade 3.

This is the third case of Grade 3 internal promotion in Gwangju's autonomous districts, following Gwangsan-gu in 2018 and Dong-gu last year.

There are signs that the confrontation may escalate due to this issue.

There is a possibility that Nam-gu could be disadvantaged in the distribution process of the 'special grants,' which are at the discretion of the Gwangju mayor, to the autonomous districts.

Gwangju City has already excluded Nam-gu from the Grade 6 training conducted jointly with the autonomous districts for six months, signaling a "conflict minefield."

When six Nam-gu civil servants moved to city hall, it created promotion opportunities due to the resulting vacancies, but this measure has caused disruptions in personnel administration.

Moreover, there is internal talk within city hall about a "Nam-gu bypass theory" even in the expanded executive meetings held once a month, attended by deputy district mayors of autonomous districts, drawing attention to future developments.

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