NewJeans Hanni Appeals Tearfully, NongHyup Employees Shed Tears of Blood
On the 15th, while girl group NewJeans member Hani tearfully appealed against 'workplace harassment' at the National Assembly, Yoon Joon-byung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Jeonbuk Jeongeup·Gochang), pointed out workplace harassment incidents that occurred at NongHyup over the past five years, criticizing, "NongHyup employees are shedding tears of blood due to various forms of workplace harassment."
According to the 'Status of Workplace Harassment Incidents at NongHyup in the Last 5 Years' submitted by the NongHyup Central Association to Representative Yoon on the 18th, a total of 35 cases of disciplinary actions due to 'workplace harassment' were confirmed from 2019 to this year. By year, there were 3 cases in 2019, 6 in 2020, 6 in 2021, 6 in 2022, 11 in 2023, and 3 in 2024.
By institution, NongHyup Bank accounted for the largest share with 10 cases, representing 28.6% of the total. This was followed by NH Investment & Securities and NongHyup Economic Holdings (NongGyeong) with 7 cases each, NongHyup Economic Holdings (Livestock Economy) with 4 cases, NongHyup Central Association, NongHyup Insurance, and NongHyup Life Insurance with 2 cases each, and NongHyup Financial Group with 1 case. Most disciplinary reasons involved typical workplace harassment such as insulting language, unfair work orders, violations of employee codes of conduct, and power harassment, but issues related to sexual misconduct such as sexual harassment, sexual assault, and physical harassment were also revealed.
Most of the disciplinary actions were light penalties such as reprimands and pay cuts, totaling 18 cases (51%), while severe penalties of suspension or higher accounted for 17 cases (49%). Among the severe penalties, 5 cases involving workplace harassment and sexual harassment or assault targeting subcontractor employees, branch employees, and team members resulted in dismissal. However, 11 cases involving verbal abuse and power harassment toward junior employees, violations of ethics codes and employee conduct codes, sexual harassment, and power harassment were concluded with reprimands, raising criticism that the punishments were too lenient.
Representative Yoon stated, "Ahead of the national audit, upon confirming the workplace harassment issues at NongHyup, it was found that nearly half of the cases involving verbal abuse, power harassment, ostracism, and sexual harassment toward junior employees resulted in severe disciplinary actions," adding, "Workplace harassment leaves indelible scars on the victims, so preventive measures must be established, and if incidents occur, thorough investigations and strict punishments should be enforced. NongHyup must prepare plans to improve its organizational culture accordingly."
He also added, "Workplace harassment stems from the vertical and hierarchical organizational culture in our society," and said, "As expressed by NewJeans member Hani, who recently appeared as a witness at the National Assembly, it seems important to transform this into a culture of mutual respect as human beings."
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