Board of Audit and Inspection Restricts Parental Leave for Auditor Accused in West Sea Incident... Opposition Calls It "Political Retaliation"
Applied for six months of leave after returning from UK studies... Only partial period granted
Board suspects intent was "to avoid investigation or prosecution," not childcare
The Board of Audit and Inspection has effectively rejected an auditor’s application for parental leave, who was accused of leaking military secrets in connection with the shooting incident involving a public official in the West Sea. The People Power Party has protested, claiming political retaliation against a public official who conducted an audit of the previous administration.
According to the Board of Audit and Inspection and political circles on July 18, the Board recently decided to permit only part of the six-month parental leave period requested by Auditor A.
Auditor A used a leave of absence until June 30 as part of a government program for public officials to study abroad in the United Kingdom. Ahead of returning to Korea, Auditor A requested an additional six months of parental leave, but the Board of Audit and Inspection only approved leave up to July 17.
The Board determined that the auditor’s request did not meet the National Public Officials Act's criteria for parental leave, specifically, that it must be "necessary for childcare." A Board official explained, "It appears that the main purpose is not childcare, but rather to avoid investigation or prosecution."
Auditor A was reported to authorities in November 2025 for allegedly leaking military secrets during the audit process of the West Sea public official shooting incident. The auditor is also under internal investigation as a member of the Board’s own task force related to alleged statistical manipulation under the Moon Jae-in administration.
Park Sunghoon, chief spokesperson of the People Power Party, criticized the move, saying, "This is an act of holding an official’s childcare hostage simply because they audited the previous administration. Parental leave is a mandatory provision that the institution’s head cannot refuse at their discretion."
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He went on to say, "We will get to the bottom of this situation so that public officials who performed their duties properly are not sacrificed to retaliatory politics."
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