500 Public Officials in Gwangju Dong-gu Take Mass Leave Amid Impeachment Crisis?

Mayor Lim Taek on Overseas Training from 3rd to 11th
Acting Mayor, Deputy Mayor Shin Dongha, Also on Leave During Same Period
500 Officials, Including Senior Staff, Take Vacation

Exterior view of Gwangju Dong-gu Office.

During the political turmoil surrounding the impeachment verdict of former President Yoon Sukyeol, it was revealed that a significant number of Dong-gu District Office officials, including Dong-gu District Mayor Lim Taek, were absent from their posts due to overseas business trips and vacations.

According to Gwangju Dong-gu on the 9th, Mayor Lim Taek left for a business trip to Switzerland, France, and other countries from the 3rd to the 11th, a 7-night, 9-day schedule, just one day before the impeachment verdict of former President Yoon.

This overseas training was scheduled to participate in the Policy Leadership Academy hosted by the Korea Healthy Cities Partnership. Mayor Lim is expected to visit the WHO headquarters to introduce activities and major achievements in the field of urban health.

The issue is that the deputy mayor, who is supposed to act as mayor in his absence, was also on vacation. Deputy Mayor Shin Dongha took a two-day vacation starting on the 8th for personal reasons.

While Mayor Lim was on his business trip, from the 3rd until this day, a total of 500 people, including senior officials of grade 5 or higher, out of all 743 Dong-gu District Office officials, used their vacation days.

On the day of the impeachment trial of former President Yoon, the 4th, as many as 157 officials were on vacation. This is more than twice the number from the same day last year (62).

A district official said, "Recently, due to continued on-call duties for martial law and wildfires, many annual leaves overlapped as staff tried to take a break," adding, "We will make sure everyone returns promptly so there is no disruption to work."

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