Gyeonggi-do Demands 'Severe Disciplinary Action' for 4 City Hall Officials Who Concealed Sexual Harassment

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has demanded severe disciplinary action against city officials who concealed the sexual harassment committed by a neighborhood chief.

On the 25th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it issued a formal warning to City A, which unjustly accepted the resignation of the neighborhood chief suspected of sexually harassing a self-support welfare assistant, and requested disciplinary measures against four officials involved in concealing the incident.

According to the province, in October of last year, the neighborhood chief of B-dong in City A was found to have sexually harassed Ms. C (21), a self-support welfare assistant, by touching her body parts three times in the neighborhood chief’s office.

At the time of the incident, the responsible department in City A first became aware of it, and the sexual harassment prevention department conducted victim counseling procedures, but no action was taken.

Ms. C transferred her workplace to a local self-support center following the incident and resigned in December of last year, while the neighborhood chief submitted a resignation letter and was processed as a voluntary resignation.

Subsequently, the City A public officials’ union reported the victim’s case again to the audit and general affairs departments. As suspicions of concealment arose due to the neighborhood chief’s resignation, reports continued through Gyeonggi Province’s public interest reporting system and helpline, leading the province’s investigation office to conduct a special investigation.

The investigation revealed that the initial counselor of the sexual violence case should have checked guidelines and manuals, informed the victim about official processing organizations and procedures, and reported the victim’s case internally. However, the head of the responsible department failed to properly explain the possibility of punishment during the interview with the victim.

In particular, the department head arbitrarily interpreted the victim’s statement, "I do not want a report because I don’t want the families of the victim and perpetrator to be hurt, but I want a sincere apology," as not wanting administrative punishment, and distorted the report to superiors. The department head also openly concealed the incident by asking the audit department not to contact the victim due to concerns about secondary harm.

Furthermore, the audit and general affairs departments of City A became aware of the sexual harassment case through the union’s report and knew that sexual violence by abuse of authority warrants severe disciplinary action and that voluntary resignation should be restricted in such cases. However, they processed the neighborhood chief’s voluntary resignation without verifying the incident, relying solely on the department head’s word after the perpetrator submitted the resignation letter.

Through this special investigation, the province concluded that these officials deliberately encouraged or cooperated in the concealment, with serious misconduct and significant negligence. Accordingly, it requested severe disciplinary action for two officials in the responsible and audit departments, light disciplinary action for two officials in the general affairs department, and issued a formal warning to City A.

Choi In-su, the province’s auditor, stated, "It is regrettable that administrative punishment cannot be imposed on the perpetrator who was unjustly allowed to resign due to colleagues protecting their own. However, it is fortunate that the officials involved in the concealment are now being disciplined. We will thoroughly investigate such cases in the future and impose strict punishment upon detection."

In January, the province also suspended and severely disciplined a public official who sexually harassed a female employee.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.