Rep. Kim Jae-seop of the People Power Party on May 31 raised allegations that former Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Won-oh traveled abroad on an official trip alone with a female district office employee during his tenure, while the employee's gender was recorded as "male" on official documents. Jeong's side responded that the employee "was the staff member in charge of all logistics."
Kim held a press conference at the National Assembly and said, "Former District Mayor Jeong went on an overseas official trip with a female employee during his time in office." He added, "The problem is that on the official trip documents, that female employee was disguised as 'male.'" He claimed, "When I requested the relevant materials, the Seongdong District Office submitted them with the woman's gender redacted," and "After the overseas trip, the female employee was rehired at the Seongdong District Office at a higher pay grade. It was an exceptional and unprecedented personnel move."
Kim said, "Former District Mayor Jeong went on an overseas trip to Cancún, Mexico, with a female public servant in 2023," adding, "Out of 14 overseas trips during the 8th popularly elected term, that was the only one where he was accompanied solely by a female public servant." He continued, "On the overseas official travel review resolution document I received from a tipster, the female employee's gender had been falsified as 'male,'" and "When I requested specific materials, the Seongdong District Office submitted them with only the gender field redacted." He asked, "If they were not trying to hide the fact that he traveled abroad with a female employee, or if the official document was not forged, then why would they specifically redact only the gender?"
Kim also claimed the trip report lacked specific activity details and supporting evidence. He said, "This overseas trip also had the highest budget expenditure among all overseas trips during the 8th popularly elected term," and "The female employee who went on the trip with former District Mayor Jeong was subsequently rehired, upgraded from a fixed-term 'da-grade' to a 'ga-grade' position."
Addressing Jeong directly, Kim said, "What was the reason for specifically selecting one female employee to accompany you to a well-known resort destination, and what is the explanation for her gender being changed to male on the documents? And what is the reason for submitting materials to me with only the gender redacted when I raised the issue?" He added, "I urge a responsible answer."
According to materials disclosed by Kim, Jeong visited Mexico and the United States from March 1 to 12, 2023. The trip involved two people — Jeong and the female employee — and cost a total of 28.72 million won. The stated purpose was "participation and presentation at the 2023 International Forum on Participatory Democracy (Mexico)," among others.
Jeong's side explained, "The attendance at the 2023 International Forum on Participatory Democracy was in response to an official invitation from the organizers, including Mexico's National Electoral Institute." The statement added, "It was a legitimate official duty carried out together with an 11-member Korean delegation that included then-National Assembly member Kim Du-gwan, former Minister of Gender Equality and Family Lee Jeong-ok, former Democratic Party Supreme Council member Lee Dong-hak, three local council members, and local government officials." The statement continued, "The employee who accompanied former District Mayor Jeong was not only the person in charge of the relevant work but also handled all logistics for the delegation," and "Raising an issue simply because the public servant is female is a ruthless negative attack that goes beyond basic human decency."
Regarding the gender record on the documents, Jeong's side explained it as "a simple clerical error by the district office." The statement added, "When external parties request materials, it is standard practice to redact personal information such as gender and date of birth for privacy protection purposes."