"Can't Take It Anymore"... Seodaemun-gu Office Decides to Actively Respond to Malicious Complainants

Following recent incidents of petition security guards being assaulted by complainants,
Seodaemun-gu declares "Moving away from a passive stance to actively respond from now on"
Includes cases and response guidelines for repeated complaints, verbal and physical violence
‘Malicious Complaint Response Manual’ created and implemented starting this month

In early last month, a civil petitioner in a drunken state was lying on a sofa in the Seodaemun-gu Office Comprehensive Situation Room, filming the staff on duty with his smartphone. Provided by Seodaemun-gu.

#Civil petitioner A repeatedly files similar complaints by finding new faults after the complaints he raised, such as road weed removal and street cleaning, are closed. He usually visits the district office's comprehensive situation room around 5 a.m., verbally abuses staff, and criticizes the work attitude of public officials. In early last month, while intoxicated, he came to the district office and struck the head of a security guard who tried to stop his disruptive behavior, then falsely claimed that he was the one who was assaulted.

#Civil petitioner B has filed 243 complaints since last year, repeatedly going through processes such as first complaints, repeated complaints, citizen proposals, and information disclosure requests. He also demands direct responses from the mayor or district office chief and repeatedly requests audits and disciplinary actions against related staff from relevant departments if dissatisfied.

#Civil petitioner C mainly files repeated complaints when dissatisfied with on-site complaint responses at the response center, verbally abuses public officials for over an hour through phone calls or visits, shouting loudly and obstructing official duties. He also summons related staff and team leaders to the audit office and makes insulting remarks such as “How did you become a public official?”

Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (District Office Chief Lee Seongheon) announced on the 5th that it has prepared countermeasures against such malicious complaints to create an environment where public officials can work safely.

Since illegal acts such as verbal abuse and assault by complainants and repeated complaints cause anxiety and delay the processing of other complaints, the district aims to actively respond, moving away from a passive stance.

The district has prepared a ‘Malicious Complaint Response Manual’ to realize a safe complaint environment where anyone can feel secure and has started implementing it this month.

The manual contains specific cases and response guidelines by type, including repeated complaints, verbal violence (such as swearing and threats), physical violence, demands to be connected to superiors (such as the district office chief), and long or repeated calls without justifiable reasons.

In particular, if the same complaint is filed more than three times, it is closed with internal approval from the department head. According to this manual, whether the complaint is the ‘same content’ is judged comprehensively by considering the nature of the complaint, content similarity and relevance to previous complaints, rather than mechanical similarity of wording.

Accordingly, the district expects to prevent administrative losses and other harms caused by repeatedly filing complaints with virtually the same content but slightly altered details.

Going forward, the district plans to systematize ‘interdepartmental consultation and response procedures’ for malicious complaints and strengthen ‘legal responses’ to support public officials in performing their duties more safely.

District Office Chief Lee Seongheon said, “We will strive to create an environment where public officials working on the front lines of administration can focus on their work with peace of mind, and residents can have their complaints resolved more quickly and smoothly through the district office by actively responding to malicious complaints.”