Workplace Harassment in the Public Sector... Still Not Eradicated

Gwangju Seo-gu Eul Representative Yang Bu-nam, Ministry of the Interior and Safety Audit Data
National and Local Disciplinary Public Officials Increased by 30% in One Year
8 in Gwangju Metropolitan City... "We Must Create a Safe Workplace"

Yang Bu-nam, Member of the National Assembly for Seo-gu Eul, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Democratic Party of Korea.
[Photo by Yang Bu-nam’s Office]

Bullying within the civil service has not been eradicated but has rather increased.

In particular, the number of civil servants, both national and local, disciplined for workplace bullying last year rose by about 30% compared to the previous year.

According to data received on the 18th by Yang Bu-nam (Gwangju Seo-gu Eul, photo), a member of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Personnel Management, a total of 144 national and local civil servants were disciplined last year for "workplace bullying acts" involving the use of superior status to inflict physical or mental suffering on other civil servants, an increase of 29.7% from 111 in 2022.

Specifically, the number of national civil servants affiliated with central government ministries increased from 58 to 85, while local civil servants affiliated with local governments rose from 53 to 59.

Among central government ministries, the Ministry of Education had the highest number of related disciplinary actions from 2022 to 2023, with 28 cases. The Ministry of Education had no disciplined civil servants in 2022 but surged to 28 in 2023.

This was followed by the Korea Coast Guard (26), the National Police Agency (24), the Ministry of Justice (18), and the National Fire Agency (9).

On the other hand, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family each had only one disciplined civil servant, the lowest numbers.

During the same period, among local governments, Gyeonggi Province had the highest number with 30 cases, followed by Seoul (13), Jeonbuk (9), Gwangju (8), Daejeon (7), and Gangwon (6).

Jeju was the only one among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces with no related disciplinary cases.

By type of disciplinary action, for central government civil servants, reprimands (46), salary reductions (44), suspensions (38), and demotions (10) were the most common.

For local civil servants, reprimands were the most frequent at 37, followed by suspensions (33), salary reductions (31), and demotions (6).

Dismissals numbered five each for both central and local civil servants, and there were no cases of discharge.

Yang Bu-nam stated, "Although social awareness of workplace bullying in the public sector has increased, related harm is still rising, indicating slow changes in organizational culture. Various measures must be prepared to prevent civil servants from experiencing workplace bullying and to create a safe workplace."