Goyang City: "City Council Resolution an Overreach Ignoring Legal Principles"...Distortion of Court Ruling

Goyang City: No Grounds for "Joint Liability of Staff" Despite Court Ruling
Distorting the Ruling's Intent to Shift Blame to Public Officials
Reserve Fund Expenditure Was an Administrative Act Following Due Process
Follow-up Measures Under Review in Accordance with the Law

Goyang Special City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Donghwan) strongly refuted the "Resolution Urging Reimbursement for Unlawful and Unjust Expenditure of Reserve Funds Related to the Feasibility Study Fee for the City Hall Relocation Project," which was passed by the Goyang City Council at the 298th extraordinary session on October 27, calling it "an overreach without legal basis."

Exterior view of Goyang Special City Hall. Provided by Goyang Special City

On October 31, Goyang Special City stated, "This is a politically motivated resolution that distorts the intent of the Uijeongbu District Court's ruling (2023Guhap1489). The court did not recognize any illegality in the use of reserve funds, nor did it acknowledge any individual reimbursement liability for public officials."

The resolution in question defines the 75 million won spent in July 2023 for the feasibility study on relocating the city hall as an illegal expenditure, and demands that the then-mayor, vice mayor, and five department heads-seven people in total-be held jointly responsible for reimbursement.

The city pointed out, "The court only found procedural shortcomings in the city council’s handling of the reimbursement request. It did not recognize the reimbursement itself or confirm individual liability. The council’s broad interpretation, imposing joint liability on public officials, is a clear misunderstanding of legal principles."

On September 16, the Uijeongbu District Court ruled in a resident lawsuit that "it was unlawful for the city council’s request for reimbursement not to be processed," but made no separate judgment on the illegality of the reserve fund expenditure or the reimbursement obligation of staff members.

Goyang City explained, "The court’s remarks were limited to procedural deficiencies in responding to the city council’s requests, and are unrelated to the legality of the reserve fund expenditure or individual compensation liability."

Furthermore, the city criticized, "According to Article 31 of the Board of Audit and Inspection Act, a reimbursement order must be based on the judgment of an audit agency. Local councils do not have the authority to directly impose reimbursement liability on public officials. This resolution constitutes administrative interference beyond legal authority and infringes on the budget execution rights of the head of the local government."

Additionally, the city added, "Some city council members are arbitrarily interpreting the court’s decision to shift responsibility onto public officials, which could discourage proactive administration. Administration should be conducted according to law and principles, not political offensives."

Goyang City stated that, following the Ministry of Justice’s instruction to forgo appeal, it did not file an appeal, and is currently reviewing follow-up measures in accordance with the law, respecting the administrative intent of the ruling.

Currently, the city is preparing response measures that comply with relevant laws and audit agency standards, including whether to conduct an internal audit.

Finally, the city stated, "Passing responsibility onto public officials through a resolution without legal basis undermines the fairness and trust in administration. All 3,500 public officials will continue to respond according to law and principles to ensure stable and responsible administration in the public interest of citizens."

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