SOUTH KOREA - A survey released on Dec 10 by a civic group showed 15.3 per cent of South Korean workers have been subjected to direct physical or verbal abuse at work, highlighting the ongoing issue of workplace harassment.

Non-governmental organisation Workplace Gapjil 119 conducted a survey on 1,000 employed individuals across the country, asking if they have been subjected to abuse. About 14.8 per cent of office workers, 17.2 per cent of those in manual labour, and 15.2 per cent of those in service industries said they have been subjected to some sort of physical or verbal violence while working.

Gapjil 119 said it recorded 516 reports of workplace abuse from January to November, out of which 65 cases involved direct exercise of physical force. This included being hit, having objects thrown or swung, and retaliation after the victim reported to the authorities.

“When one has been assaulted at work, one needs to report the case to the police immediately in order to acquire the necessary evidence and to ensure that the perpetrator is punished,” the group said, adding that the victim would need to file charges to the related branches of the Labour Ministry for violation of the Labour Standard Act.

Gapjil is a Korean term that refers to a situation in which a person abuses his or her superior position to take advantage of or harass another person in an inferior position. It is most commonly used to refer to workplace harassment.

A July 2023 survey by the same group on 1,000 South Korean workers showed that 33.3 per cent have been subjected to some type of abuse in their career. Verbal abuse was the most common form with 22.2 per cent, followed by inappropriate commands at 17.2 per cent.

In one of the cases reported to the civic group, an employee was forced to kneel down for 20 minutes after failing to answer the chief executive’s question. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK