A city council member in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, is facing backlash for repeatedly mentioning a specific public official by name on social media to demand the processing of administrative tasks.
The government and local municipalities have recently been keeping the names of public officials private to protect them from a series of malicious complaints.
On Saturday, June 27, a Seongnam city council member from the People Power Party, identified as A, posted a photo of a broken sink drawer at an apartment complex senior center on social media. In the post, the council member mentioned the name of the head of the Social Welfare Division at Bundang-gu Office and wrote, "I would appreciate it if you could take action after coming to work."
On June 18, Council Member A also pressured the same division head by mentioning their name regarding an air conditioner at another senior center, stating, "I ask for a replacement as soon as possible."
The council member repeatedly singled out the same official by name to urge the resolution of complaints.
Council Member A explained that they had requested the work to be done on Thursday and Friday, but since no immediate action was taken, they posted it on social media over the weekend in the expectation that more people would see it and speed up the process.
However, the repair of the senior center sink drawer, which the council member posted about while naming the official, is a matter funded by the residents' representative council and falls under the jurisdiction of the management office, not a task handled directly by the district office.
Critics argue that this behavior exceeds the authority of a city council member and that it is inappropriate to repeatedly disclose the name of a specific public official in relation to work, effectively exerting pressure.
Following the 2024 death of a public official in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, who had been suffering from malicious complaints, the government established "protection measures for civil service officials" and reorganized the system to keep the names of public officials private.
In May 2024, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety recommended that local governments across the country stop disclosing the names of public officials on their websites. Bundang-gu Office, where the division head mentioned by Council Member A works, has also stopped disclosing staff names on its website organizational chart since July 2024, providing only job descriptions and extension numbers.
Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Ryu Jisu | Graphics by Lee Jeongju | Produced by SBS Digital News
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