Controversy Over Color Discrimination in Gwangju's Consumer Coupon Cards, Civil Servants' Opposition to Overnight Corrections

As Gwangju is embroiled in controversy over pre-paid consumer coupon cards with different colors based on income levels, civil servants are voicing their opposition to overnight work being carried out to rectify the issue.

With their workload already increased due to disaster recovery efforts, civil servants are expressing dissatisfaction over being tasked with additional work.

According to the Gwangju regional headquarters of the National Public Workers' Union on the 23rd, around 400 staff members from community welfare centers were mobilized for the color change of the physical cards starting from 9 PM that day.

Initially, Gwangju created the consumer coupon cards in different colors based on the amount.

The card for 180,000 KRW (top 10% + general public) was pink, the 330,000 KRW (near-poor + single-parent families) was green, and the 430,000 KRW (basic livelihood recipients) was dark blue.

Concerns were raised that this color differentiation could expose the income levels or vulnerability status of recipients, potentially leading to "social stigma." In response, the government ordered immediate corrective measures.

"The idea is a typical supplier-centric administrative convenience mindset and shows a significant lack of human rights sensitivity," stated Kang Yu-jeong, spokesperson for the presidential office, who revealed that President Lee Jae-myung had instructed immediate rectification.

In response, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety initiated a comprehensive investigation of pre-paid cards across all local governments.

With burdensome work piling up, civil servants are increasingly dissatisfied as they are required to work overnight.

Following the government's directive, Gwangju decided to quickly unify the colors of the cards by applying stickers.

On the 23rd at around 6 PM, Gwangju announced that staff would receive pink stickers (for top 10% + general public) and instructed them to wait for the stickers to arrive by 9 PM.

This directive led to voices of dissent within the local public service community.

Gwangju civil servants, already overwhelmed with work from disaster recovery and consumer coupon distribution, expressed their frustrations through internal forums as they faced demands for overnight work that was not required of other local governments.

The National Public Workers' Union plans to issue a critical statement on the 24th in response.

Baek Seong-dong, head of the Gwangju regional headquarters of the National Public Workers' Union, emphasized, "It is unjust to require overnight work, knowing that employees are already fatigued from disaster recovery efforts, and we will respond at the union level."

Gwangju has conveyed its apologies to the staff.

Joo Jae-hee, head of the Economic and Entrepreneurship Bureau of Gwangju, stated, "We sincerely apologize for damaging the city's reputation as a place that prioritizes human rights and for increasing burdens on city and district civil servants. We will use this as an opportunity to self-reflect to prevent such incidents from happening again."

Image source: Gwangju is embroiled in controversy over differentiating 'card colors' for consumer coupon pre-paid cards based on amounts distributed to the public / News1 (provided by readers), Kang Yu-jeong, spokesperson / News1