Ministry of Employment Conducts Special Labor Inspection on MBC Over Workplace Bullying Allegations

On the 28th of last month, Park Dae-chul, chairman of the MBC Biased and Manipulated Broadcasting Investigation Task Force (TF), Park Seong-jung, secretary of the People Power Party's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee, Kwon Seong-dong, a member of the same committee, and other People Power Party lawmakers protested against the coverage of President Yoon Seok-yeol's remarks in New York in front of the MBC headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will conduct a special labor inspection on MBC, which has been accused of unfair transfer and workplace harassment.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 26th that it will carry out special inspections on MBC and Korea Wiper, which were controversial during the recent National Assembly audit, to actively respond to illegal acts by employers.

The Ministry explained, "In the case of MBC, issues such as unfair transfer and workplace harassment against employees have been continuously raised through the National Assembly audit, causing social controversy."

Earlier, during the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee audit of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, some members of the People Power Party raised concerns about MBC's unfair transfer and workplace harassment, demanding a special inspection for unfair labor practices.

The Ministry will also conduct a special inspection on Korea Wiper. The background of the investigation includes violations of collective agreements, breach of the prohibition on replacement labor, and ongoing labor disputes.

Accordingly, the Seoul Western Branch of the Ministry will conduct a special inspection on MBC, and the Ansan Branch in Gyeonggi Province will inspect Korea Wiper for ten days starting today. The inspection period may be extended if necessary.

The workplaces subject to the irregular labor inspection for unfair labor practices to be conducted by the end of this month were selected by the headquarters (branch offices), focusing on workplaces with multiple complaints and accusations or suspected unfair labor practices, totaling 38 locations.

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik stated, "Illegal acts by employers cause a vicious cycle in labor-management relations, so it is important to establish prevention and uphold laws and principles through active labor inspections," adding, "I have also instructed to prepare institutional improvement measures to ensure that the special labor inspection system, which became controversial during the National Assembly audit, gains public trust and effectiveness."

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