Gov't seeks to punish public workers for participating in anti-gov't rally

SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- The government on Tuesday sought to punish over 100
public employees for participating in anti-government campaigns, accusing them of
violating obligatory political neutrality as public servants.
Public employees from the two biggest unions -- the Korean Government Employees'
Union (KGEU) and the Korean Democracy Government Employees' Union (KDGE) -- who
together claim some 120,000 members, staged a series of street rallies on July 19
in downtown Seoul.
The protesters, accusing the Lee Myung-bak government of rolling back democracy,
demanded the scrapping of controversial media reform bills and guaranteed freedom
of expression.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said it filed prosecution
complaints against 16 union members, including KDGE President Jeong Heon-jae, and
the head of the Court Government Employees' Union, Oh Byung-wook.
It also asked government offices to dismiss or suspend 105 participants,
including 15 union leaders.
The ministry said the public employees who took part in the demonstrations
violated the law that bans public workers from political activity. The rallies
were organized by opposition parties and civic groups.
"Staging the anti-government protest and participating in the event led by
politicians was a breach of their obligation to maintain political neutrality and
represents neglect of their duty as public servants," an official from the
ministry said. "These activities are unacceptable."
KDGE refuted the government argument, saying the protesters were acting as
individuals.
"We joined the protests individually, it was not a collective action," an
official at the KDGE said. "We called for freedom of expression. That's not a
violation of political neutrality."
Meanwhile, the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office said that it will launch a
probe into the union members as requested by the ministry.
brk@yna.co.kr
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