Gyeonggi Province Spokesperson: Reports on Lee Jae-myung Increasing PR Staff by 50% "Distort Facts"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province Spokesperson Kim Hong-guk has taken a position on the "expansion of PR personnel at the province" that has recently been raised in the media.

Spokesperson Kim Hong-guk issued a statement through his SNS on the 7th, saying "The October 7 reports by some media outlets including <Korea Economic Daily> stating 'Lee Jae-myung increased Gyeonggi Province's PR staff by 50% before the presidential election' are shocking in that they uncritically adopted claims from the political sphere that distort facts without verification," and explained, "Compared to 2018, the increase in Gyeonggi Province's PR personnel in 2021 totals 46 people, with the largest portion being 21 employees converted from temporary dispatch workers to regular positions."

He continued, "The increase of 25 additional PR personnel beyond that corresponds to essential PR personnel recruitment due to increased administrative demands and surge in workload at the PR department, resulting from changes in the administrative environment such as population and budget increases in Gyeonggi Province and increased on-site support personnel. This reflects the necessary expansion of PR personnel in response to the sharp increase in diverse administrative demands from 31 cities and counties scattered across Gyeonggi Province, including rural, fishing, mountainous, and border areas, as well as changes in the administrative environment brought about by population and budget increases," he said.

Spokesperson Kim concluded, "I earnestly urge the media to thoroughly verify claims by politicians in accordance with journalistic principles and report only truth and facts. Gyeonggi Province will do its utmost to serve provincial residents by pooling the efforts of all public officials."

The following is the full text of Spokesperson Kim Hong-guk's SNS statement.

<Please Do Not Distort and Disparage Gyeonggi Province's PR Efforts to Serve Provincial Residents> - Spokesperson Hongkook Kim
The October 7 reports by some media outlets including <Korea Economic Daily> stating 'Lee Jae-myung increased Gyeonggi Province's PR staff by 50% before the presidential election' are shocking in that they uncritically adopted claims from the political sphere that distort facts without verification.
The articles prepared based on materials from National Assembly audit by Rep. Jo Su-jin of the People Power Party, citing the remarks of the representative, criticize Gyeonggi Province's PR administration by asking "Are public taxes and civil servants who should work for provincial residents being used for election campaigns?" As Gyeonggi Province spokesperson, I wish to clarify the province's position on its administration.
It is true that the number of PR personnel increased from 95 under Governor Lee Jae-myung who took office in 2018 to 141 this year. However, upon examining the actual details, the content is clearly different.
Compared to 2018, the increase in Gyeonggi Province's PR personnel in 2021 totals 46 people, with the largest portion being 21 employees converted from temporary dispatch workers to regular positions. Following the Moon Jae-in administration's policy of "conversion of irregular workers to regular positions," 21 irregular workers performing contracted services were converted to regular employees and incorporated into PR personnel—this was not an increase in PR personnel to conduct the governor's personal policy promotion ahead of the presidential election.
Uncritically adopting exaggerated claims without verifying specific facts or truth, and attempting to link everything to the presidential election or gubernatorial election, is truly a bad political perspective.
Beyond that, the increase of 25 additional PR personnel corresponds to essential PR personnel recruitment due to increased administrative demands and surge in workload at the PR department, resulting from changes in the administrative environment such as population and budget increases in Gyeonggi Province and increased on-site support personnel. In the end, they have uncritically adopted the exaggerated claim that PR personnel recruitment of 25 people, representing a 26 percent increase compared to 2018, has expanded by "nearly 50 percent." Furthermore, ignoring the circumstances of a metropolitan government implementing comprehensive administration and comparing it to the Blue House PR Office, which promotes tasks by department, is an overly forced interpretation and "criticism for the sake of criticism."
Gyeonggi Province's PR personnel are at the lowest level in the nation when comparing the scale of PR personnel per resident. Gyeonggi Province's PR official handles approximately 95,337 provincial residents per person, which is nearly double the national average of 54,514 residents per person across cities and provinces.
The appropriateness of PR personnel scale must be judged comprehensively considering the local government's budget scale, population, policy beneficiaries, and administrative demands. In response to the sharp increase in diverse administrative demands from 31 cities and counties scattered across Gyeonggi Province, including rural, fishing, mountainous, and border areas, as well as changes in the administrative environment brought about by population and budget increases, PR personnel have been modestly expanded.
In the COVID-19 situation, fake news, false information, and distorted and exaggerated reports are causing much pain to citizens suffering from national division. I earnestly urge the media to thoroughly verify claims by politicians in accordance with journalistic principles and report only truth and facts. Gyeonggi Province will do its utmost to serve provincial residents by pooling the efforts of all public officials.
October 7, 2021
Gyeonggi Province Spokesperson Kim Hong-guk