Breaking a Bottle and Forcing Resignation at Karaoke... Ministry of Employment: "Sunjung Chukhyup Chairman to be Immediately Prosecuted"

The president of the Jeonbuk Sunjeong Livestock Cooperative was found to have seriously violated workers' dignity and labor rights by breaking bottles in a karaoke room and forcing resignation, as well as demanding payment for overtime allowances that were rightfully given.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 27th that, as a result of a special labor inspection of Sunjeong Livestock Cooperative, which caused social controversy due to assault on employees, a total of 18 violations of labor-related laws including assault, workplace harassment, sexual harassment, and unfair labor practices were uncovered, along with unpaid wages amounting to 206 million KRW.

The inspection revealed that the cooperative president repeatedly assaulted and verbally abused multiple employees for reasons such as union membership and work negligence. Furthermore, the cooperative failed to manage working hours at all, habitually violated limits on overtime work, and confirmed wage arrears exceeding 200 million KRW due to unpaid overtime allowances.

The Ministry of Employment plans to take administrative and judicial actions against these numerous labor law violations, including criminal charges (9 cases), fines (8 cases, totaling 152 million KRW), and demands for disciplinary action against the perpetrators (2 cases).

In an anonymous survey conducted alongside the labor inspection, 69% of respondents reported experiencing workplace harassment in the past six months. Among them, 21% said they experienced it at least once a week, indicating that illegal and unreasonable practices are widespread throughout the organization, according to the Ministry. The Ministry has requested relevant government agencies and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation to take effective disciplinary measures against the cooperative president and to make fundamental efforts to reform the organizational culture to prevent recurrence of such cases.

Lee Jung-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor, stated, "This is a case where many workers suffered and had their legitimate rights violated due to illegal abuses by an employer who disregarded the law," adding, "We will continue to respond strictly with a zero-tolerance policy toward such illegal acts and strengthen protection for the vulnerable by establishing the rule of law in industrial sites."