By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The resident vote to dismiss Hanam Mayor Kim Hwang-sik, the first of its kind in the country, was ruled invalid by the Suwon District Court Thursday, as petitions for the recall of the mayor signed by local residents did not satisfy related regulations.
The court ordered the Hanam Election Commission to stop all processes of the vote scheduled for Sept. 20 until a higher court makes a final decision.
The mayor, who has been suspended from duty since Sept. 1, suddenly lost consciousness Monday night while talking to his aides at his office and was taken to hospital.
He has since regained consciousness but still needs more time to recover, said a city official.
Kim has been in conflict with Hanam residents since last October over his plan to construct a large crematorium in the city.
The mayor has stood firm on continuing the project of building a cremation facility, one of the most unpopular facilities with residents, in order to build a new inter-city subway with 200 billion won the city is supposed to receive in compensation.
But residents have strongly protested the project and took steps to force a recall. ``Mayor Kim has pursued the project without consulting residents' opinion and we will judge his arbitrary policy through the ballot.
We aim to have more than a third of the residents participate in the vote,'' a member of the Hanam Citizens' Dismissal Committee said.
But the steps stirred controversy because according to law, the request for the dismissal of elected government officials can only be accepted when citizens prove illegal actions, corruption, neglect of duty or abuse of power.