Seven Jeonnam Provincial Government Officials Indicted for Misusing Office Management Expenses

Prosecutors Charge Seven Civil Servants with Occupational Breach of Trust
Suspension of Indictment Granted for 123 with Lesser Violations

Jeonnam Provincial Government Office View

Seven civil servants from the Jeonnam Provincial Government Office have been indicted for using office management expenses to purchase personal items.

On July 22, the Mokpo Branch of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office announced that it had indicted a total of eight people without detention, including seven out of approximately 130 civil servants from Jeonnam Province and one former contract civil servant, on charges such as occupational breach of trust and falsification of official documents. In addition, two convenience store employees, who are civilians, were also indicted for aiding and abetting the actions of these civil servants.

They are accused of using office management expenses to purchase luxury liquor, smartwatches, robot vacuum cleaners, and other electronic devices from the union-run in-house convenience store or from an online shopping mall registered under the store's name. After making these purchases, they allegedly falsified documents to make it appear as if they had bought ordinary office supplies.

The prosecution granted a "suspension of indictment" to the remaining 123 civil servants, whose actions were considered relatively less unlawful. It was reported that although they used office management expenses for purposes somewhat different from the original intent, mitigating circumstances such as purchasing work-related items were taken into account.

Previously, in April 2023, the police launched an investigation following a report by a civic group and confirmed that 133 individuals had misused office management expenses, subsequently referring the case to the prosecution.

Meanwhile, Jeonnam Province plans to review whether to impose additional disciplinary measures based on the prosecution's decision, including the eight individuals who have already been subject to internal disciplinary action.

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