South Korean President, Moon Jae-in has announced a revision of the laws on workplace harassment in the Public Service.
Mr Moon (pictured) said he was concerned over a lack of legal stipulations on compensation for victims in the field of public administration.
The instruction came after a newly-recruited Public Servant in the administration of the city of Daejeon, 160 kilometres south of Seoul, was found dead at home in September, about three months after the official was assigned to the post.
Family members of the deceased claimed the Public Servant had been overworked, and had been subjected to unfair instructions and bullying at the office.
Mr Moon told aides assigned to revising the laws that workplace harassment was a “humanitarian issue.”
The President called for the revision of relevant laws because there was a lack of legal guidelines for an occupational accident compensation system for Public Servants suffering from workplace harassment.
Presidential spokesperson, Park Kyung-mee said a law aimed at preventing harassment in the workplace took effect in 2019.
“Under the law, workplace harassment is defined as an act of incurring physical or mental suffering or a worsening of the work environment by employers or workers using their status or power to behave beyond the scope of working norms,” Mr Park said.
“The President believes this needs greater definition in relation to the Civil Service,” he said.
Seoul, 11 November 2021
