[Interview] "What Good Is Making a Law to Prevent Security Guard Abuse?" ... Verbal and Physical Abuse Persist One Year After Amendment Implementation

Late Choi Hee-seok's brother Choi Hee-cheol: "Perceptions treating security guards as 'Eul' must change"
Recycling and parking management remain... 'Gapjil' toward security guards does not decrease

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] On April 21, 2020, Choi Hee-seok, a security guard at an apartment in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, who had been repeatedly assaulted, took his own life on May 10. His suicide note stated that he had been assaulted and threatened by a resident in his 50s, Mr. A. According to the police investigation, Mr. A assaulted Choi over a double parking issue within the apartment complex, and upon learning that Choi had reported his crime, he dragged Choi to the security office bathroom, confined him, beat him, and pressured him to resign.

Angry citizens held a memorial for Choi in front of the Gangbuk District Office, raising public awareness about the issue of security guards suffering from abuse. Mr. A, who was prosecuted, was sentenced to five years in prison in the first trial on December 1 of the same year and appealed. The court upheld the five-year sentence, stating, "It is difficult to see the five-year imprisonment set by the original judgment as excessively harsh or lenient."

Choi’s older brother, Choi Hee-cheol, created the so-called 'Choi Hee-seok Act' at the time, appealing for the enactment of an anti-abuse law to prevent security guards from suffering any further pain.

Subsequently, from October 21 last year, the revised Enforcement Decree of the Apartment Housing Management Act, known as the 'Security Guard Abuse Prevention Act,' was implemented. The purpose was to clearly define the scope of security guards’ duties to prevent them from being subjected to unfair orders. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained the revision’s intent as "to clarify the scope of duties so that security guards can work in a safe and respectful environment."

However, the bereaved family still points out that abuse is widespread. Although the related law was revised, it is ineffective in practice. Below is a Q&A with Choi’s older brother.

In front of the apartment security booth in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, where Mr. Choi, an apartment security guard who made an extreme choice following a conflict with a resident that began over "parking issues within the complex," worked, memorial messages from residents are posted. The photo shows the scene as of May 11, 2020.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

- It has been one year since the so-called 'Security Guard Abuse Prevention Act' was implemented. Do you think abuse has decreased?

▲ Not at all. On the contrary, I believe it has increased. Security guards are still being abused on site.

- Is there a reason why abuse has not decreased?

▲ Although there was significant political interest after my brother’s death, it was only temporary. It was a fleeting concern, and ultimately, unless people’s awareness changes, abuse will inevitably continue.

- Is there a reason you view the situation negatively, saying 'abuse will not disappear'?

▲ There should be no blind spots in the related laws. Many aspects seem merely formal. For example, the law was revised to prohibit assigning security guards tasks like waste sorting or parking management. Yet, we still easily see security guards doing waste sorting. It is practically ineffective.

- Then, what do you think is the way to end abuse?

▲ Ultimately, it is about improving people’s awareness. The perception of 'I pay your salary, so you live off me' must change so that we can coexist in a mutually complementary relationship. It is truly regrettable. If we just show a little consideration for each other, it could be resolved.

Unstable Employment Relationships... Persistent Abuse

As the bereaved family points out, the background to the ongoing abuse of security guards lies in unstable employment relationships. Typically, security guards work under short-term contracts of three to six months. This means contracts can effectively end every two to three months. Consequently, security guards often endure abuse from some residents because they fear contract termination, creating a kind of power imbalance, according to experts.

Abuse against security guards has continued. According to the Korea Association of Housing Managers, notable incidents include a 2014 case in an apartment in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where a security guard took extreme measures due to residents’ tyranny and insults; a 2016 incident in Seocho-gu, Seoul, where the head of the apartment residents’ association verbally abused the office manager with derogatory terms; a 2018 case in Osan-si, Gyeonggi-do, where a resident assaulted a security guard for not answering the intercom; an October 2018 incident in Seodaemun-gu where a resident assaulted a 70-year-old security guard leading to his death; and a 2019 case in Busan where the head of the residents’ association threatened office staff with a baseball bat.

Furthermore, according to the Housing Management Corporation, complaints of verbal and physical abuse against security guards in rental apartments increased from 19 cases in 2020 to 24 cases in 2021, after the law was enacted. The Seoul Labor Rights Center also reported an increase in related consultations after the law revision. Up to September, 25 people who identified themselves as security guards sought consultation for assault and verbal abuse, roughly double the 10 cases in the same period the previous year.

In May 2020, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended that residents who harass apartment security guards should be regarded as perpetrators of workplace harassment. It pointed out that current labor standards law leaves a blind spot in worker protection. The commission also recommended applying anti-harassment regulations even in workplaces with four or fewer employees.

A representative from the Human Rights Commission emphasized, "Cases of workplace harassment, including suicides of apartment security workers, continue to occur. Workplace harassment seriously infringes on workers’ physical and mental health and violates human dignity."

※ If you have difficult feelings such as depression or know someone facing such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling at suicide prevention hotline ☎1393, mental health counseling ☎1577-0199, Hope Line ☎129, Lifeline ☎1588-9191, or Youth Hotline ☎1388.