"Not Wild-Caught, Right?" "My Heart Races When I See You"…Shocking Reality of Sexual Harassment in Public Institutions

Accompanied by Extremely Inappropriate Acts Such as Evidence Destruction
Assembly Member Oh Sehee: "Public Service Discipline Has Gone Too Far"

It has been revealed that various sexual misconducts, including appearance evaluations and sexual harassment, are rampant in 11 public institutions under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

According to data disclosed on the 18th by Oh Se-hee, a member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, and Small and Medium Enterprises Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, as many as 243 employees were disciplined for economic and sexual misconduct, drinking, and other offenses since May 2022.

For example, a male employee A of the Korea National Oil Corporation made inappropriate remarks evaluating a woman's appearance during a dinner with a partner company, saying things like "She probably isn't natural" and "Why did she get a procedure done when she's young?" He also committed serious sexual harassment by taking a female employee to the infirmary and making sexual jokes.

Another male employee B repeatedly attempted personal contact with a female employee more than 30 years younger, asking "Do you have a boyfriend?" and "Teach me how to play drums." He even went to her house and said, "These days, when I see you, my heart races, and I feel alive," then tried to make physical contact, exhibiting extremely inappropriate behavior. During this process, he unplugged the black box to destroy evidence. When the victim demanded an explanation, he pressured her by saying, "Are you recording?" When she said she was not recording, he insulted her by saying, "So you're not trash," it was confirmed.

Regarding economic misconduct, there were cases such as ▲an employee of the Energy Foundation who was dismissed for embezzling 20 million won by falsifying labor contracts and extorting 350 million won from a supported company ▲an employee who uploaded videos for profit during working hours while engaging in YouTube activities and left work early without permission for 73 days ▲an employee of the Korea District Heating Corporation who was dismissed for submitting false documents to move into employee housing and privately using a 90 million won loan.

Looking at the types of disciplinary actions, there were ▲19 cases of power abuse against partner companies and colleagues ▲11 cases of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct ▲2 cases of personal misconduct ▲1 case of personnel misconduct. Additionally, there were ▲97 cases of neglect of duty such as insincere job performance ▲91 cases of economic misconduct including providing entertainment and embezzlement of public funds ▲22 cases of violations related to the Road Traffic Act such as drinking and hit-and-run.

Assemblyman Oh said, "The laxity of public service discipline has gone too far," and urged, "Strong punishments to eradicate corruption are necessary to create a working organizational culture."