120 Dasan Call Foundation, Emotional Laborer Protection Conference
15 Years of Malicious Complaints Due to 'Mosquito Bites' Cases
It was revealed that 2,784 unique complainants occurred across 309 public institutions, including central administrative agencies and local governments. Among the malicious complaints received by the 120 Dasan Call Center, there were also 1,147 cases filed citing reasons such as 'mosquito bites.'
The Seoul 120 Dasan Call Foundation held the "2024 Emotional Laborer Protection Conference" at 2 p.m. on the 20th in the multipurpose hall of Seoul City Hall. The conference was attended by emotional labor workers, experts, related organizations, and citizens, where the results of investigations confirming the status of unique and malicious complaints were also announced.
In Session 1, Seokang-suk, Head of Complaint Management at the 120 Dasan Call Foundation, shared cases of complaints and damage status from public and private call centers. As of October this year, 2,290 malicious complaints and 3,345 aggressive complaints were received, totaling 5,635 cases. Over the past five years until last year, 35 legal actions were also taken.
Among the complainants, there was a case of receiving 1,147 complaints over 15 years regarding unfair complaints such as mosquito bites inside a residence, text sexual harassment, and verbal abuse. In this complainant’s case, legal action was only possible when the intensity of the behavior worsened around 2019-2020, resulting in a sentence of one year imprisonment with two years probation and 80 hours of community service.
Cho Deok-hyun, Grievance Complaint Officer at the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, presented the status and countermeasures of unique complaints received by public institutions. According to Cho’s survey of 309 public institutions, unique complainants were identified as ▲1,372 in basic local governments ▲1,124 in central administrative agencies ▲192 in metropolitan local governments ▲96 in education offices.
Unique complaints differ from general complaints that request legitimate administrative services; they cause physical and mental harm to complaint handlers and degrade the quality of complaint services, requiring special management and response at the institutional level. According to the survey, the most frequent unique complaints were harassment of staff through habitual and repetitive complaints (48%), followed by verbal abuse and assault (40%), and 'coordinate targeting' for personal attacks (6%).
Officer Cho suggested that resolving unique complaints requires institutional willingness to respond, such as forming dedicated teams. He emphasized that operating dedicated teams not only improves work efficiency but is also a necessary measure for both complainants and public officials. Currently, among the 25 autonomous districts in Seoul, eight operate dedicated teams: Jungnang, Yeongdeungpo, Gangseo, Geumcheon, Dongjak, Yangcheon, Yongsan, and Gwangjin.
Meanwhile, prior to the conference, a launch ceremony was held for the "Metropolitan Local Government Call Center Council," involving 10 local governments including Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, Ulsan, Gyeonggi-do, Chungnam, Gyeongnam, and Gangwon, centered around the foundation. The council aims to provide practical support for emotional laborers by establishing countermeasures against malicious complaints and improving systems for call center counselors based on interregional cooperation.
Lee I-jae, Chairman of the 120 Dasan Call Foundation, said, "The Emotional Laborer Protection Conference will be an important momentum for protecting the labor rights and interests of emotional laborers in Korea, who account for four out of ten workers, as well as for improving awareness of emotional labor. The 120 Dasan Call Center will take the lead in actively creating a stable working environment by providing manuals containing complaint response methods and worker protection guidelines for counselors, as well as comprehensive measures to protect workers."
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