Seongdong District: "Jeong Wonoh’s Cancun Trip Was an Official Event Attended by 10 People"

Kim Jaeseop of the People Power Party Raises "Private Accompaniment" Allegations, District Responds with "Distortion of Facts"


District Explains Gender Record Error and Hiring Favoritism Suspicion Regarding Accompanying Staff Member

On March 31, Seongdong District in Seoul strongly refuted allegations raised by Assemblyman Kim Jaeseop of the People Power Party (Dobong District A) regarding former Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Wonoh (Democratic Party of Korea’s Seoul mayoral pre-candidate) and his official overseas business trip, calling them “distorted claims.”

A view of Seongdong-gu Office. Provided by Seongdong-gu.

On this day, Assemblyman Kim questioned whether former mayor Jeong had traveled to Cancun, Mexico in 2023 for a private purpose with a specific individual. He based his suspicion on several points: the fact that the accompanying staff member’s gender was recorded as male, not female, in the official overseas business trip review report; that the employee’s personal information was redacted during the information disclosure request process; and that the same employee was later promoted to a contract-based position following the trip.

In response, Seongdong District explained that the trip was not for private reasons but was part of an official itinerary, which included participating and giving a presentation at the 2023 International Participatory Democracy Forum, visiting SXSW, and benchmarking advanced cultural case studies. The district stated that more than ten local government heads and officials attended the event together, and that the trip was carried out for the public purposes of participating in an international event and conducting policy case studies.

Regarding the “error” in recording the accompanying staff member’s gender, Seongdong District clarified that it was a simple mistake that occurred during the preparation of administrative documents. The district emphasized that using this as a basis to allege that the trip was taken with a specific individual distorts the facts.

On the matter of the staff member’s gender and other information being redacted during the information disclosure process, Seongdong District stated that this was not an arbitrary concealment, but a legitimate non-disclosure in accordance with relevant laws and information disclosure principles. Gender and date of birth are considered personal information subject to non-disclosure and were handled according to standard procedures.

Seongdong District also rejected suspicions of a connection between the business trip and the staff member’s hiring. The district explained that the trip took place in 2023, while the promotion to the contract-based position occurred in April 2025, after the resignation of the Head of the District Policy Research Planning Team, leaving the position vacant. The appointment was made in October of that same year through an open recruitment process, and the district emphasized that there was no connection to the business trip.

A Seongdong District official stated, “It is regrettable that normal administrative procedures, such as official overseas business trips, simple clerical errors, and the processing of personal information according to non-disclosure principles, are being exaggerated with added intent, distorting the operations of the public sector. We will continue to clearly correct claims that are not based on facts.”

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