Korean Studies Central Institute Issues 'Light Disciplinary Action' to Sexual Harassment Major Offender

Comprehensive Audit Results of the Ministry of Education on the Academy of Korean Studies
Notification of Disciplinary Action for Lenient Punishment of Sexual Harassment Perpetrators
Personnel Committee Ignores Grievance Deliberation Committee's Request and Issues 'Light Disciplinary Action'

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] It has been revealed that the Academy of Korean Studies imposed a light disciplinary action at the personnel committee on a person subject to severe disciplinary action in a sexual harassment disciplinary case.

According to the comprehensive audit results of the Academy of Korean Studies disclosed by the Ministry of Education on the 18th, the Sexual Harassment Grievance Deliberation Committee judged a sexual harassment report that occurred in June 2017 as "gross negligence" and decided on a severe disciplinary action of one-month suspension. However, it was revealed that the personnel committee imposed a light disciplinary action of one-month salary reduction despite the Sexual Harassment Grievance Deliberation Committee's request for severe disciplinary action.

Although the Academy of Korean Studies' guidelines for preventing violence including sexual harassment stipulate a "zero-tolerance policy" for sexual harassment unless there are special reasons, the Academy of Korean Studies did not request a retrial regarding the personnel committee's decision. The Ministry of Education notified that five related personnel should be held accountable for this.

It was revealed that 22 faculty and staff members affiliated with the Academy of Korean Studies were late, left early, or went out without processing attendance 859 times from January 2017 to September last year. The Ministry of Education issued a warning to the institution for improper attendance processing, and imposed disciplinary actions including accountability on five people, warnings on four people, and caution on thirteen people.

It was also found that during the waterproofing work on the roof of Jangseogak, payment was improperly made for work that was not performed. The contract with the construction company was inflated beyond the actual construction area, and an improper payment of 12.37 million KRW was made for the area that was not constructed. The Ministry of Education filed charges against the related employees and the company representative, and demanded accountability, warnings, and recovery of the construction amount.