Public Official Collapses and Dies from Malicious Complaints... Even Mocked with "Stop the Show" Remarks

Gyeonggi Donghwasung Tax Office Civil Service Team Leader
Says "I feel dizzy" during conversation with a civil petitioner

The head of the civil service team at Donghwaseong Tax Office in Gyeonggi, who fell into a coma while dealing with a malicious complainant, has ultimately passed away.

According to the National Tax Service on the 17th, Mr. A, the head of the civil service team at Donghwaseong Tax Office who collapsed and was in a coma while attending to a complainant on the 24th of last month, died at around 1:50 p.m. the previous day. The deceased passed away 24 days after fainting on duty. The funeral will be held privately with family, and the funeral hall has been set up at Osan Funeral Culture Center. The funeral procession is scheduled for the 18th.

Earlier, on the 24th of last month, around 3 p.m., Mr. A lost consciousness after stepping in to assist a civil service staff member who was attending to a female complainant who had visited Donghwaseong Tax Office. It was understood that the complainant, who came to obtain real estate-related documents, raised her voice in a strong tone upon being told that issuance was difficult due to not meeting legal requirements.

Despite seeing Mr. A collapse, the complainant continued with the complaint and reportedly made mocking remarks such as "Don't pretend." Mr. A was known to have been a model employee with a sincere work attitude despite having a leg disability.

National Tax Service Distributes Recorders to Civil Service Offices at 133 Tax Offices Nationwide

A recorder distributed to the National Tax Service Civil Service Office.
[Photo by National Tax Service]

Malicious complainants are a chronic problem at frontline tax offices. Following this incident, on the 4th, the National Tax Service deployed a total of 908 recorders to the civil service offices of 133 tax offices nationwide for tax officials to use when dealing with complainants.

This is the first time recorders have been placed in all civil service offices at tax offices nationwide. Employees can start recording after notifying complainants of the recording, except in unavoidable cases.

Meanwhile, Kim Chang-gi, Commissioner of the National Tax Service, personally visited Hallym University Hospital to offer condolences to the bereaved family and also discussed measures against malicious complainants at the National Tax Office Directors' Meeting.

Oh Ho-seon, Commissioner of the Central Regional Tax Office, also met directly with Donghwaseong Tax Office staff and pledged to propose the establishment of a system to reduce the litigation costs burden on affected employees when taking civil and criminal legal actions against malicious complainants, among other responses.

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