Joo Nak-young, Mayor of Gyeongju, Warns "Political Neutrality of Public Officials Before General Election"... Strict Measures for Violations

"Do Not Attend Candidate's Publication Celebration"

Also Prohibited from Expressing Support on SNS

With the registration of preliminary candidates underway ahead of the April 10th general election for the National Assembly next year, the election atmosphere in the Gyeongju area has already shown signs of overheating, prompting Mayor Ju Nak-yeong of Gyeongju to strongly urge civil servants to maintain election neutrality.

At the expanded executive meeting held on the 18th, Mayor Ju stated, “Civil servants have a solemn duty to remain completely uninvolved in elections and to maintain neutrality,” and instructed, “Ensure that civil servants conduct themselves both publicly and privately in a way that avoids any misunderstanding that they support a particular candidate.”

Joo Nak-young, mayor of Gyeongju, is urging public officials to maintain political neutrality ahead of the general election during an executive meeting.

Mayor Ju continued, “Recently, not only in neighboring cities but also in the region, retired civil servants have joined specific candidate camps and appealed for support from active civil servants. This is an unacceptable behavior, and I hope retired civil servants will refrain from such actions so that their junior civil servants can maintain election neutrality and focus on their duties.”

He further emphasized strict compliance with the Public Official Election Act by presenting specific guidelines for election neutrality: first, prohibition of attending various gatherings including publication commemorations hosted by specific candidates; second, cessation of continuous expressions of support on SNS for specific candidates; and third, refraining from meetings with retired public officials who have joined specific candidate camps.

Gyeongju City has designated the period until the end of the general election in April next year as the “Special Period for Establishing Public Official Discipline Related to the General Election” and plans to intensively inspect violations of civil servants’ election neutrality obligations. If violations occur, strict measures will be taken regardless of rank or position.

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