Gunsan City 'Election Law Violation' Sent to General Election Preliminary Candidate Press Office Email

Election Commission Urges Compliance with Public Official Election Law for Violations of Civil Servants' Neutrality Duty

Police to Verify Involvement in Election Offices This Week

The Jeonbuk Election Commission has taken administrative action urging Gunsan City to comply with the Public Official Election Act.

Controversy arose when Gunsan City sent election campaign press releases of preliminary candidates for the 22nd National Assembly election through the official public relations office email. In response, the Election Commission viewed this as a violation of Article 9 of the Public Official Election Act.

A view of Gunsan City Hall. [Photo by Gunsan City]

On the 29th of last month, the Gunsan City Public Relations Office sent press releases twice, in the morning and afternoon, to registered reporters. The two press releases were election campaign materials of preliminary candidates running in the upcoming general election on April 10, specifically materials from the election offices of preliminary candidates Kim Euigyeom and Shin Youngdae, who are running in the Gunsan area.

The materials contained information about the launch ceremony of the election countermeasures headquarters for the Gunsan City electoral district and the attraction of a nighttime children's hospital.

An Election Commission official stated, "This case violated the Public Official Election Act, which stipulates the neutrality obligation of public officials, and the matter has been concluded with a disciplinary action."

Earlier, a Gunsan City official explained, "The press releases were sent out after consultation with the secretary of the press corps in response to requests from each lawmaker's office," adding, "This is customary and unrelated to violations of the Public Official Election Act," which sparked public outrage in political circles.

Regarding this, a political insider criticized, "This is a highly inappropriate act confirming the violation of election neutrality obligations by Gunsan City and its public officials," and added, "However, the election offices of each preliminary candidate and the secretary of the press corps who induced the illegal sending through the local government’s official email should also be disciplined together."

Meanwhile, a Gunsan police official expressed investigative intent, stating that this case involves violations not only of Article 9 of the Public Official Election Act but also several other regulations, and that they will consult with the election public prosecutor in charge within this week.

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