Arrest Warrant Requested for Cooperative President Over Assaulting Employee with Shoe and Forcing Resignation

Jeonbuk Sunjeong Livestock Cooperative... Special Labor Inspection by Ministry of Employment
Dismissal Vote for Cooperative Head Rejected Due to Insufficient Support

The police have requested an arrest warrant for the head of the livestock cooperative who repeatedly assaulted and verbally abused employees and even forced them to resign. On the 18th, the Sunchang Police Station in Jeonbuk announced that they had applied for an arrest warrant for Ms. A, a woman in her 60s and the head of the Sunjeong Livestock Cooperative, on charges including assault and verbal abuse (assault and coercion) of employees and violations of the Labor Standards Act. A police official stated, "We applied for the arrest warrant considering the severity of the crime."

In September of last year, Ms. A assaulted employees multiple times at a restaurant in Sunchang-gun, Jeonbuk, because the chairs at the dining table were not properly arranged, even removing her shoes while doing so. On the same day, she also assaulted employee B three times at a funeral. It is known that Ms. A assaulted B because she was displeased that B had joined the labor union.

The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Photo by Asia Economy DB]

This case became public when an employee of Sunjeong Livestock Cooperative filed a complaint alleging assault by Ms. A. Alongside the police investigation, the Ministry of Employment and Labor formed a special labor inspection team at the Jeonbuk Regional Employment and Labor Office to investigate Sunjeong Livestock Cooperative. As a result of a special labor inspection conducted in December last year, the Ministry confirmed 18 violations including assault, workplace harassment, unfair labor practices, and sexual harassment, as well as wage arrears amounting to 206 million won. Ms. A threatened and verbally abused multiple employees with phrases such as "If you don't resign, I won't let you off," and "I'm not an ordinary person," implying that she would not tolerate employees who refused to submit their resignation letters.

Additionally, Ms. A ordered employees to return overtime pay they had rightfully earned. During this process, she made degrading remarks such as, "Morally, you guys, how can you take hundreds of thousands of won, and even seduce the executive director?" Ms. A also made male employees feel sexually humiliated by shaking hands and repeatedly rubbing the back of their hands.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor filed criminal charges for nine of the labor law violations by Sunjeong Livestock Cooperative and imposed fines totaling 152 million won. When these facts were revealed through media reports, the cooperative held a vote in December last year on the dismissal of Ms. A. However, the motion was rejected as it failed to secure the approval of two-thirds of the voters. Of the 2,284 cooperative members, 1,926 (84.3%) participated in the vote, with 1,026 (53.3%) in favor of dismissal, 899 opposed, and 1 invalid vote. After transferring Ms. A to the police in October last year, the police proceeded with an investigation following additional complaints and ultimately applied for an arrest warrant for Ms. A.