Gas Corporation, Recurring 'Sexual Harassment' Incidents... Regional Headquarters Deputy Receives 'Suspension'

Since the 'Zero Tolerance Policy' in 2018, Cases of Violating the Duty to Maintain Dignity Have Rather Increased

Exterior view of Korea Gas Corporation headquartered in Daegu.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Sexual misconduct incidents repeatedly occur at Korea Gas Corporation (President Chae Hee-bong), a leading public energy company, whenever one might think they have been forgotten.

Since the implementation of the 'One Strike Out System' with a zero-tolerance policy under the previous president in 2018, violations of the duty to maintain dignity, such as sexual harassment and sexual violence, have rather been on the rise.

According to the Gas Corporation on the 31st, Deputy Manager A of a regional headquarters continuously made remarks constituting sexual harassment toward a female colleague in the same department and was recently disciplined with suspension.

Since August 2018, the Gas Corporation has applied a zero-tolerance principle, including no mitigation of disciplinary action, aggravated punishment, and demotion, for four major misconducts: bribery and entertainment acceptance, embezzlement and misuse of public funds, sexual harassment, and personnel-related offenses.

However, even after the announcement of this 'zero-tolerance principle,' incidents violating the duty to maintain dignity have paradoxically increased every year.

During last year's National Assembly audit, the 'Disciplinary Status of Affiliated Employees' submitted by the Gas Corporation to Kwon Myung-ho of the People Power Party showed that violations of the duty to maintain dignity, including sexual harassment, increased significantly each year: 1 case in 2017, 7 cases in 2018, and 10 cases in 2019. The number of related violations last year has not been disclosed.

Meanwhile, at the Gas Corporation, a regional headquarters chief at the director level (Grade 1) faced dismissal demands from the personnel committee in November 2019 due to sexual assault and verbal abuse but received a two-step mitigation to suspension at the final review stage. Controversies over 'fairness' and 'lenient punishment' have continued until recently.

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