New Civil Servant Forced to Kneel and Kicked... Malicious Complainant Sentenced to Prison

40s Civil Complaints Offender Sentenced to 1 Year 6 Months for Obstruction of Official Duties
120,000 Malicious Complaints Against Public Officials in the Past 5 Years

A malicious complainant who forced a rookie public official to kneel and kicked their chest area was sentenced to imprisonment.

On the 20th, the Criminal Division 5 of the Busan District Court (Presiding Judge Jang Gi-seok) sentenced A (in their 40s), who was indicted on charges of obstruction of official duties and assault, to 1 year and 6 months in prison. A was prosecuted for assaulting public official B by calling them outside an administrative welfare center in Dongnae-gu, Busan, on July 25 last year, forcing B to kneel, and kicking their chest area. A is also accused of threatening B by brandishing a pen as if to stab.

[Photo by Pixabay]

At the time, A visited the administrative welfare center to apply for basic living benefits. The person in charge, B, reported the complaint to a superior after A urged them to "process it quickly," but A became enraged, thinking that B was mocking them upon seeing B talk with the superior.

Thereupon, A called B outside and shouted, "Are you laughing like that while talking about my case? Haven't you seen public officials dismissed for leaking personal information?" and "Kneel and apologize," intimidating B. Then, A kicked B’s chest, knocking them down, and when B got up again, A threatened B with a pen as if to stab.

Due to A’s assault, B sustained bruises and injuries requiring two weeks of medical treatment.

Since 2008, A had continuously visited administrative agencies to request welfare support and reportedly verbally abused public officials when things did not go their way. A colleague of B testified in court, "Even after the incident, A frequently visited the administrative welfare center and had many demands, which was difficult."

Despite reviewing the CCTV footage capturing these actions, A claimed in court, "I did not threaten, and B knelt down voluntarily." A also excused themselves by saying they did not kick B but only kicked the air.

However, the court recognized A’s assault and verbal abuse as guilty. The charge of threatening B with a pen was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.

The court stated, "The victim, a rookie public official, likely suffered significant physical and mental distress from this incident," and pointed out, "The defendant still denies all the offenses and consistently makes excuses rather than showing remorse to the victim."

Furthermore, the court explained, "Considering the nature of the victim’s duties, which require direct interaction with complainants even after this incident, it is inevitable that the victim would feel fear of similar crimes while performing their work," and added, "Given the high likelihood of repeated similar offenses if leniently punished, a prison sentence is imposed."

120,000 Malicious Complaints Against Public Officials in the Past 5 Years

Meanwhile, according to data submitted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to Kim Yong-pan, a member of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee from the People Power Party, on the 10th, malicious complaints against public officials, including verbal abuse, assault, and sexual harassment, reached 120,000 cases over the past five years.

The number of malicious complaints was 18,525 in 2018, then recorded ▲25,548 in 2019 ▲26,086 in 2020 ▲27,133 in 2021 ▲26,685 in 2022. Although the number slightly decreased last year compared to the previous year, it increased by more than 44% compared to 2018.

As concerns were raised about public officials being defenselessly exposed to malicious complainants, the government revised the Enforcement Decree of the Civil Petition Handling Act last year to introduce specific protective measures such as deploying safety personnel in civil petition offices. However, as of the end of March this year, only 63.5% of portable protective equipment had been distributed, and 71.8% of dedicated departments had been designated, indicating that protective environments are not yet fully established, with significant differences among local governments.

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