"Preventing Recurrence of Donghwaseong Incident"... National Tax Service Prioritizes Deployment of Security Personnel to 6 Tax Offices

Comprehensive Measures to Protect Civil Service Staff
Deployment of 'Dedicated Security Personnel' Instead of Petition Police
Legal Support for National Tax Service Employees Facing Malicious Complaints

The National Tax Service (NTS) has decided to prioritize the deployment of dedicated security personnel to six tax offices in the Seoul metropolitan area that receive a high volume of visitors. This measure aims to prevent a recurrence of the 'Donghwaseong Tax Office Incident' in Gyeonggi Province, where an employee collapsed and ultimately died after dealing with a malicious complainant.

On the 30th, the NTS announced that it had prepared a "Comprehensive Plan to Protect Employees Handling Civil Complaints," which includes these measures.

An NTS official stated, "Following the recent Donghwaseong Tax Office incident, the NTS has deeply recognized employees' demands for enhanced safety and has been reviewing various approaches to establish a comprehensive plan to protect staff handling civil complaints. Under the awareness that effective measures that employees can feel are necessary, we gathered diverse internal opinions and held a focused inspection meeting with all related departments to prepare a comprehensive plan containing concrete implementation methods."

First, to protect employees and visitors in the event of unexpected accidents, the NTS plans to prioritize the deployment of outsourced security personnel?currently utilized by some local governments?to six tax offices in the metropolitan area with high visitor traffic. Security personnel will be assigned to the Donghwaseong Tax Office, which was the catalyst for this comprehensive plan, starting next month.

An NTS official explained, "The introduction of security guards requires prior consultation with related ministries such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the police, and since there are no cases of deployment in subordinate agencies except for central headquarters-level institutions, it is difficult to implement. Instead, we will deploy dedicated security personnel that can be assigned without legal amendments or consultations with related ministries."

Additionally, in the event of an emergency within a tax office, the NTS has arranged for the operations support team leader and security personnel to respond immediately to 'emergency calls' made via IP phones before police arrival. To ensure effective operation, the NTS will conduct group training sessions led by security experts for security personnel to strengthen their response capabilities. They will also enhance safety during emergencies by providing additional equipment such as baton sticks, alongside stab-resistant vests and self-defense sprays.

Employees will be provided with equipment to handle malicious complainants, and CCTV blind spots will be addressed. All staff in the civil service offices have been given voice recorders to respond to verbal abuse from complainants. To seek complainants' understanding and cooperation, Y-banners and stickers informing that CCTV, voice recorders, and emergency bells are in operation have been installed.

To eliminate blind spots not covered by existing CCTV cameras, additional CCTV units will be installed. To further enhance employee safety, exclusive staff entrances and transparent partitions will be reinforced to separate complainant areas from employee workspaces. Furthermore, during peak visiting hours, security personnel will patrol key points such as civil service offices within tax offices, with an electronic patrol system scheduled for introduction starting next month.

Post-incident measures to protect employees, including legal and financial support, will also be strengthened. The NTS will actively protect the legitimate rights of complainants but will strictly respond with institutional legal actions against criminal acts such as assault and injury. They will collect and analyze cases of malicious complainants primarily occurring in tax offices to establish legal response criteria by type and behavior and will take proactive measures when institutional response is necessary.

Moreover, in the event of an incident, the roles of internal response teams within tax offices and the malicious complainant response teams in relevant departments will be clearly defined. The NTS will also clarify post-incident procedures and work processes for support departments at headquarters and regional offices. The "Civil Complaint Response Guidelines" will be completely revised, and education and simulation training will be conducted to ensure employees can effectively utilize them.

In addition, the NTS will assist employees legally when they file complaints or lawsuits by providing internal legal support, external legal consultations, and coverage of attorney fees. Currently limited to defendants, legal support will be expanded to cases where employees initiate complaints or lawsuits against malicious complainants. After review by the Civil Complaint Mediation Committee, employees will be able to receive legal assistance from a dedicated legal support team composed of in-house lawyers. Medical expense support will be expanded to cover treatment costs without employee co-payments if employees are assaulted during work, and compensation payments will be increased according to the extent of the damage. A funeral expense support system with a limit of 10 million KRW will be newly established to cover funeral costs in the event of death in the line of duty.

An NTS official said, "Measures that can be implemented immediately will be promptly enacted, while those difficult to fully implement due to budget or other reasons will be introduced first in some offices and gradually expanded. We will actively collect and review valuable employee opinions to improve the newly established measures in a better direction."

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