Gwangju Seo-gu Applies Zero-Tolerance Policy to Malicious Complaints Including Assault and Sexual Harassment

Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kim Ikang) has announced a ‘zero-tolerance strong response’ policy against malicious civil complaints such as verbal abuse, assault, and sexual harassment.

Gwangju Seo-gu has announced a 'zero tolerance and strong response' policy against malicious complaints such as verbal abuse, assault, and sexual harassment.
[Photo by Seo-gu]

On the morning of the 4th, Mayor Kim Ikang stated at the heads of departments meeting, “Recently, incidents of verbal abuse and assault by complainants have occurred repeatedly at the local administrative welfare centers, putting the safety and working environment of our staff at serious risk,” adding, “We will respond strongly and decisively with a zero-tolerance policy toward illegal acts by complainants that threaten the safety of public officials.”

He further instructed, “To ensure that employees suffering from malicious complaints do not have to endure the damage alone, review the designation of dedicated personnel and the establishment of a specialized response team for handling malicious complaints.”

Seo-gu plans to build a cooperative system with the police and lawyers to take legal action against illegal acts such as verbal abuse, defamation, sexual harassment, assault, property damage, threats, as well as obstructive behaviors including repetitive, time-consuming, and unreasonable demands.

Additionally, through ongoing cooperation with the Seobu Police Station, Seo-gu is establishing a system that can respond quickly and strongly when malicious complaints are reported, and is also considering rotating security guards at the local administrative welfare centers.

Seo-gu will support hospital treatment and medication costs up to 500,000 KRW per public official annually if they suffer injury or require mental health treatment due to malicious complaints, and will also promote education and healing programs to ensure the emotional stability of complaint-handling staff.

Earlier, the government announced the ‘Measures to Prevent Malicious Complaints and Strengthen Protection for Civil Service Workers’ in May.

This includes clarifying the concept of malicious complaints to establish legal grounds for appropriate measures, institutional responses to malicious complaints, and mandatory protective measures for affected public officials.

Shin Dongho, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr