Cooperative President of Chukhyup Throws Full-Swing Punch After Removing Shoes, Also Fights at Employee's Mother's Funeral Hall

Jeonbuk Chukhyup Union Chief 'Shoe Beating Incident' Controversy
Employee Assaulted for Joining Union
"Only Absurd Excuses... Nonghyup Must Take Strong Action"

Mr. A's assault at the funeral hall. [Image source=Channel A news footage capture]

Amid reports that the head of a livestock cooperative in Jeonbuk verbally abused an employee and assaulted them with a shoe, it has been revealed that this cooperative head had previously assaulted another employee in anger over their union membership.

On the 5th, the Honam Regional Meeting of the Small and Medium Financial Institutions Workplace Power Harassment Out Committee and the Honam Regional Headquarters of the National Cooperative Union held a press conference in front of the Jeonju branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stating regarding the case of the cooperative head in his 60s, Mr. A, "The Nonghyup Central Association must take action with genuine will, not just conduct a verbal investigation."

Mr. A's shoe assault scene. [Image source=JTBC news screen capture]

They said, "Employees who suffered assault and verbal abuse from Mr. A have been severely shocked, submitting resignations and receiving hospital treatment," and criticized, "The perpetrator only offers an absurd excuse, saying 'I drank too much and don't remember anything.'"

Previously, on the 13th of last month, at a restaurant in Sunchang-gun, Mr. A verbally abused employees by telling them to "submit resignations" during dinner and assaulted them with shoes and other objects.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident shows Mr. A speaking to a male employee, suddenly removing his shoe, then angrily hitting the employee with the shoe and pushing him with his arm. He also swung the shoe at employees who tried to intervene.

At the time, Mr. A reportedly said, "I came earlier and you didn't greet me. If you don't resign, I won't leave you alone, so resign. And raise your cattle well."

The affected employees claimed that since Mr. A was elected in 2019 and re-elected this year, he has continued to engage in power harassment such as verbal abuse and assault over the past five years. One employee who was assaulted at the time said, "He came at 11 p.m. and started assaulting me because I didn't turn on the lights. Everything I had lived through collapsed in an instant, and I felt immense humiliation."

It was also found that Mr. A had previously threatened to hit another employee with a liquor bottle at the funeral of an employee’s mother. Mr. A was enraged by the employee’s union membership, reportedly throwing punches and kicking an employee who tried to intervene.

Colleagues of the employee said, "There were comments like 'Why are you stabbing the cooperative head in the back?', 'Withdraw from the union,' and 'We'll send you to another union,'" adding, "It was a place with many people, and it was really embarrassing because it showed no regard for the employee as a person."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Employment and Labor has formed a special labor inspection team at the Jeonbuk Regional Employment and Labor Office to investigate violations of labor laws at Sunjeong Livestock Cooperative related to Mr. A’s case. The police plan to send Mr. A to the prosecution on charges of assault causing injury and coercion.