"Job Security Is a Thing of the Past" Public Officials Face Extreme Workloads and Even Acid Attacks Amid COVID-19 Crisis...

On August 5th, 2021, candidates heading to the interview venue at the 2021 National Civil Service Grade 9 Open Competitive Recruitment Interview held at KINTEX Exhibition Hall 2 in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] "It used to be a dream job, but these days, with so many issues from workplace harassment to difficult complainants..."

The workplace safety of public officials, once popular and even called 'cheolbapttong' (iron rice bowl) due to relatively high job security, seems to be gradually declining.

According to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, as of 2020, cases of public officials being verbally or physically abused by complainants reached 46,079, a 19.7% increase from 38,054 cases in 2019.

In fact, on the 29th of last month, a man in his 60s, Mr. A, unlawfully entered the Public Transportation Division office at Pohang City Hall in Gyeongbuk and sprayed a liquid contained in a water bottle at Manager B.

The liquid was revealed to be a diluted hydrochloric acid solution. Mr. B was sprayed in the eyes and face, suffering corneal and skin damage, and is currently receiving hospital treatment.

According to police investigations, Mr. A is a personal taxi license dealer who had continuously filed complaints as Pohang City proceeded with reducing the number of personal taxis, which halted the sale of personal taxi licenses.

In the same month, a terrifying incident occurred in Gyeongju due to a complainant's act of terror. A 50-year-old architect, Mr. C, who visited the Building Permit Division at Gyeongju City Hall, brandished a hand axe, verbally abused Manager D, and caused a disturbance.

Investigations revealed that Architect C threatened Manager D, claiming that the permit for the building he was responsible for was delayed due to Gyeongju City's sluggish administration.

In February, a man in his 40s appeared at an administrative welfare center in Seo-gu, Daejeon, carrying a weapon and caused a commotion, threatening to set fire. A month later, he returned to the center intoxicated, grabbed the collar of a male public official, pulled the hair of a female social welfare assistant causing her to fall, and kicked her thigh.

The Cheongju Branch of the National Public Officials Labor Union held a press conference at Cheongju City Hall on the 27th of last month, urging the establishment of measures to prevent the recurrence of violence against public officials.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Additionally, cases of extreme choices due to workplace harassment and heavy workloads are increasing. Mr. E, appointed as a 9th-grade public official in January this year and assigned to a department in Daejeon in July, ultimately took his own life after complaining about workplace bullying.

According to the bereaved family, Mr. E was instructed to arrive an hour earlier than the official start time to prepare tea and coffee for his superior and tidy the desk. He refused, considering it an unfair task, and subsequently faced bullying from team members, including being ignored, excluded from work cooperation, and treated as invisible.

It was also recently confirmed that a public official at a district office in Busan, who had been cracking down on businesses violating quarantine rules, attempted suicide last month due to the heavy workload. According to a district office official on the 5th, the official attempted suicide after work on the 12th of last month, following harsh protests from a business owner who was fined for violating quarantine rules.

Meanwhile, despite ongoing cases where public officials suffer from acts close to terror, such as verbal and physical abuse by complainants, there are criticisms that punishments are insufficient. Calls for urgent solutions to ensure the safety of public officials are growing louder.

There is also a strong demand for improving the internal organizational culture of public officials. A survey conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety targeting 1,810 junior public officials born between the 1980s and 2000s found that 58.6% had considered changing jobs. The reasons cited included 'skepticism about organizational culture' (31.7%) and 'skepticism about working methods' (31%).

※ If you have difficult concerns such as depression or know family or acquaintances experiencing such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour expert counseling at suicide prevention hotlines ☎1577-0199, Hope Phone ☎129, Lifeline ☎1588-9191, and Youth Phone ☎1388.

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