Assault and Sexual Harassment... Public Officials Bruised by Malicious Complainants

Welfare Officer Assaulted by Civilian
Victim Officer Unconscious with Concussion
Increase in Civilian Verbal Abuse, Threats, and Assaults
Experts Say "Urgent Need for Recurrence Prevention Measures"

The so-called 'Changwon Public Official Assault' incident captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV). The civil complaint filer who assaulted the public official is calmly eating ice cream in front of the victim who has fainted. Photo by KBS News Broadcast Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] Recently, a female public official fainted after being punched by a male civil petitioner in his 40s at a district office in Changwon, Gyeongnam Province, sparking public outrage. Although crimes of venting anger against public officials, such as a petitioner striking an official's head with a metal pipe, have been steadily increasing, there are criticisms that no measures have been taken. Experts are urging urgent preparation of recurrence prevention measures.

According to the Changwon City Public Officials' Union and the police on the 5th, at around 11 a.m. on the 2nd, petitioner A (45) who visited the Social Welfare Department of Masanhappo-gu Office in Changwon City swung his fist at a female public official B in her 50s. B, who was assaulted, fell backward and hit her head on a table, causing a concussion and fainting.

At the time, it was reported that A committed the crime because emergency livelihood support funds had not been deposited.

This is not the first crime against public officials. In February, in Jung-gu, Ulsan City, a male petitioner in his 60s struck a public official's head with a metal pipe.

At that time, 5 to 6 other public officials nearby barely restrained petitioner C, but D was transported to the hospital and had to receive suturing treatment on the head.

According to the district office investigation, C was a basic livelihood security recipient who committed the crime out of dissatisfaction with the reduction of his basic livelihood support funds.

Crimes of venting anger against public officials by petitioners have been increasing every year. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety last month, there were a total of 38,054 cases last year where petitioners harmed public officials during the petition process, a 10.3% increase compared to the previous year (34,484 cases).

Verbal abuse and insults accounted for 32,312 cases, or 84.9%. This was followed by threats with 2,353 cases (6.2%), assaults with 323 cases (0.8%), and sexual harassment with 216 cases (0.6%).

The problem is that there are no practical measures to sanction such malicious petitioners. As a result, public officials are exposed defenselessly to verbal violence such as verbal abuse, insults, and threats from petitioners.

It has been revealed that public officials are defenselessly exposed to verbal violence such as abusive language, insults, and threats from civil petitioners.
Photo by Yonhap News

Kim, a 29-year-old administrative officer working at a resident center in Seoul, said, "In cases like the Changwon incident, it is not uncommon for petitioners with criminal records to threaten by saying they have been to prison," adding, "Sexual harassment such as 'Your makeup looks bad today' or 'How is your figure' is also common," expressing frustration.

He continued, "These incidents happen several times a day, but the problem is that there is no response system for such petitioners," emphasizing, "This incident should be an opportunity to establish strong punishments and laws to prevent recurrence of malicious petitioners."

Meanwhile, despite measures such as emergency bells and closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) prepared by local governments, it has been found that public officials cannot actively respond to assaults by petitioners. These measures are criticized as being practically ineffective.

On the 9th, Changwon Mayor Heo Seong-mu appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "Male staff blocked (A) from approaching further, but we could not subdue him. If a physical fight breaks out, it becomes mutual assault, so we have to be passive," pointing out, "In this regard, institutional improvement is necessary."

Mayor Heo added, "Local governments and the government nationwide have manuals and responses, but it is true that measures to prevent such incidents are somewhat lacking," and said, "In such cases, we are considering deploying people who can protect in advance or equipping self-defense devices."

Some point out that there is a widespread perception that petitioners can treat public officials carelessly. On the Blue House's National Petition Board, petitions titled 'Please improve the treatment of social welfare public officials dying from assaults by petitioners' and 'There is no system to protect public officials' have been posted.

The petitioner said, "Social welfare public officials are, above all, a profession serving the people and are primarily needed to solve the public's concerns up close. However, even basic human rights are not guaranteed to such public officials," urging, "Please prepare fundamental solutions so that the working environment of public officials can be improved."

Experts pointed out the lack of practical measures regarding responses to malicious petitioners. A representative of the Korean Government Employees' Union told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "Such incidents are continuously occurring not only in this case but also in public institutions and courts," and pointed out, "The problem is that although each institution has manuals on how to respond to abnormal petitions, they are not practically functioning."

He added, "There is a difficulty because the perception that public officials serve the people is emphasized. In such cases, it is necessary for each institution to actively respond to abnormal petitions," emphasizing, "I believe various devices such as installing reinforced glass to prevent conflicts between public officials and petitioners at petition counters are needed."

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