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Kang Seung-kyu, chief of civil society at the presidential office, has been visiting the budget in his hometown of Chungcheongnam quite often lately. There has been talk of him considering running for the general election next year, but the Central Election Commission has expressed the opinion that there is room to view this as a pre-election campaign.

This is an exclusive report by reporter Won Jong-jin.

<Reporter>
A man greets President
Yoon Suk-yeol during a giveaway at an alumni association sports event at an elementary school in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, on Saturday, when he attended the G7 summit.

[Who is it? (Since the president is now the chief of civil society, the Blue House.)]

Kang Seung-kyu is the Chief of Civil Society in the Office of the President.

[Kang Seung-gyu/Chief of Civil Society at the President's Office: My name is Kang Seung-gyu, who works in the President's Office.

It is emphasized that the city where the event was held is from Hongseong and the budget that is tied to one constituency.

[Kang Seung-kyu/Chief of Civil Society at the Office of the President: This is a budget person.]

I also handed out a business card with my job title on it.

Earlier, Kang also appeared at a soccer tournament event in Budget County.

On the same day that Kang, who plays a role in mediating social conflicts, visited the budget here, a civic group rally against the release of contaminated water from Fukushima and a citizens' memorial rally for the 200th anniversary of the Itaewon disaster were held in Seoul.

Since March, Kang has attended events at temples and police stations, as well as the Budget Yun Bong-gil Marathon and local weddings, handing out business cards, and at the inauguration ceremony of the head of the Women's Organization Council of the Budget County, she sent a flag in her name emblazoned with the phoenix emblem of the presidential office.

He also sent a message to local people promoting the state of affairs, mentioning that he was from the budget.

Regarding these activities, the Election Commission said, "It may be a violation of the Election Act for a public official to publicize his or her achievements or distribute business cards to an unspecified number of constituents, depending on the nature and type of conduct."

[Chang Cheol-min, MDP steering committee member: Going every weekend and handing out your business card to people you don't know is really very inappropriate for the president's office.]

In response, Kang explained that he attended events not only in his hometown but also in other regions such as Daegu, Iksan, and Gwangju to gather public opinion, and that business cards were handed out in a normal greeting, and that the congratulatory letters in the name of the president's office were sent to people who had personal and professional ties but could not attend the event.

He also said that he has no thoughts other than the duties of the chief civil society officer.

(Video Interview: Lee Jung-hwan, Video Editing: Park Chun-bae)


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reporter
Won Jong-jin to discuss this further.

Q. The chief of civil society often travels to his hometown... Why the problem?

[Reporter Won Jong-jin: Of course, he can go anywhere in the country, but the problem is that he often visits his hometown. In fact, the prospect that Kang will run for his hometown of Hongseong constituency in South Chungcheong Province has been coming up in the local media. The Election Commission replied, "In particular, there may be some problems with the distribution of "business cards" by "government officials" who are prohibited from interfering in elections. Kang is one of the few chief secretaries in the Yongsan Presidential Office, which is the highest peak of the public service society. That is why it is pointed out that he should have been cautious about local activities.]

Q. What are the legal issues of "pre-election campaigning"?

[Reporter Won Jong-jin: In fact, under the Public Office Election Act, pre-election campaigning, if this is too strictly restricted, there is a problem that the luck of political newcomers will be narrowed. Therefore, in 2016, the Supreme Court of Korea proposed several standards through its ruling in the case of violation of the Daejeon Mayor's Election Act. If you look at the criteria, you will judge from the voter's point of view that you have taken external actions to elect a certain person in a particular election. And the closer you get to the election day, the more likely you are to campaign in advance. That's how I judged it. The general election is less than a year away, isn't it? So, no matter how much you are interested in politics, if you are a public servant, you need to be careful about local activities.]