Human Rights Commission Recommends Warning for Public Official Who Leaked Internal Corruption Complaints to Company

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea announced on the 6th that it has recommended the mayor of Namwon, Jeonbuk, to issue a written warning to a public official who leaked a complainant's personal information.

According to the Human Rights Commission, complainant A filed a complaint with the Commission in 2019, alleging that a public official at Namwon City Hall leaked the details of their complaint regarding internal company corruption to the company.

The Commission's investigation revealed that A was unfairly dismissed by the company and suspected that the company where they worked was improperly receiving subsidies from a youth support project. A inquired about this matter with the public official in charge of the related project. The official then called the company's executive director and asked, "Is there anyone who was recently unfairly dismissed?" and conveyed the details of the complaint, mentioning that A had contacted them.

The public official under complaint responded to the Human Rights Commission, stating, "It was to verify whether A's complaint was true," and "Since A had grievances, I intended to confirm the reasons for dismissal and hear the company's side."

However, the Commission judged that since A's complaint was essentially a whistleblowing report on internal corruption, if the investigation was to proceed, care should have been taken to ensure the whistleblower's identity was not revealed. The Commission viewed the public official's actions as a failure to fulfill the duty of care in performing official duties and as improper handling of personal information.

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