On the Day of the Tragedy Memorial with Colleagues... County Office Officials Playing Money-Staking Go-Stop with Contractors

An executive public official in Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, was suspended from duty after being caught playing high-stakes Go-Stop gambling with a construction contractor.

Hwasun County Office building. Provided by Hwasun County.

Hwasun-gun announced on the 22nd that it had suspended Mr. A, a Grade 4 (director-level) public official, who was caught at the gambling scene. On the 18th, Mr. A was playing Go-Stop with stakes around 600,000 won together with three other executive public officials (Grades 5 to 6) working at the same county office and one construction contractor when they were caught on site by the Office of Government Ethics under the Office for Government Policy Coordination. It was the day a joint memorial service was held for 179 victims of the Jeju Air crash, including eight current and former public officials of Hwasun-gun.

Considering that Mr. A is a "high-ranking public official who should set an example above all," Hwasun-gun first suspended him from duty, and stated that the other three public officials will face additional measures once investigations and inquiries proceed.

Yonhap News reported, "Since these officials have been involved in facility and construction-related work, there are concerns about possible collusion with the contractor due to business interests, so verification of such ties is necessary," adding, "The Office of Government Ethics is expected to complete its investigation into these suspicions and then refer the case to the police for further investigation." It also reported, "The Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency’s Criminal Mobile Unit has also launched a preliminary investigation," and "They plan to summon Mr. A and others involved for questioning on gambling charges first, and if the charges are confirmed, they will be formally booked and dealt with accordingly."

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