Geuinmo, Geochang County Governor, Issues Public Apology Statement to Citizens for Executive Officials' Controversy

Establishment of Special Measures to Prevent Recurrence of Sexual Crimes
Two Public Officials Causing Social Controversy Suspended from Positions

Gu In-mo, the mayor of Geochang County, Gyeongnam, recently held a press conference to apologize to the residents and others regarding a senior official who caused social controversy, and issued a statement promising to prevent recurrence.

In the statement, Mayor Gu explained the circumstances of the incident, apologized to the residents, outlined the measures taken by Geochang County, and detailed plans to prevent future occurrences.

The incident occurred on October 31 during a dinner held to encourage the staff of Geochang Police Station who worked hard on security duties at the Geochang Hanmadang Grand Festival.

Governor Gu In-mo is delivering a public apology statement to the residents.

After the incident, an emergency meeting was held on the 3rd, presided over by the deputy mayor, to discuss measures to prevent recurrence. On the 4th, special prevention education on sexual harassment and sexual violence was conducted for about 80 managerial-level public officials, including department heads, section chiefs in charge, and heads of sub-districts and townships, under the mayor’s leadership.

Additionally, the county dismissed two senior officials involved in the incident as of the 6th, and plans to take strong corresponding actions based on the investigation results from the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency.

To prevent similar cases from recurring, Geochang County plans to implement the following measures: applying a zero-tolerance policy toward the four major types of violence including sexual harassment, sexual violence, prostitution, and domestic violence; strengthening education to improve values and awareness related to sexual matters for all public officials; establishing special measures for preventing sex-related crimes and conducting continuous inspections; and establishing a proper public official service period system.

Mayor Gu said, “I apologize for the damage caused to the honor of Geochang County by the actions of a senior official who should have been a role model, and for the harm caused to the affected public officials and related organizations. As the mayor, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility.”

He added, “Whether good or bad, anything related to Geochang County public officials is the responsibility of the mayor who commands and supervises about 800 public officials. This is entirely my fault. I apologize on their behalf.”

Mayor Gu stated, “Our county is taking this incident very seriously. We will actively cooperate with the investigation to ascertain the truth. I offer my sincere apologies and condolences to those affected. We will do our utmost to prevent such incidents from happening again.”

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