"Must Pass Swimsuit Inspection to Transfer"…Civil Servant Harassed Female Police Officer

Two Geochang County Officials Referred Without Detention
Forced Molestation and Insult of Female Officer at Company Dinner

Two public officials who sexually harassed and molested a female police officer in her 20s at a company dinner held to encourage local police officers who worked hard at a county (gun) event were sent to the prosecution.

On the 14th, the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency announced that it had sent A and B, senior public officials of Geochang-gun, Gyeongnam, to the prosecution without detention on charges of forcible molestation and insult, respectively, for molesting and insulting a female police officer at the company dinner.

A, a grade 4 director, is accused of holding hands and hugging a female police officer in her 20s at a dinner held with Geochang Police Station staff at a restaurant in Geochang-gun on October 31. B, a grade 5 manager who also attended the dinner, made a sexually harassing remark to the same female police officer, saying, "If you want to transfer to Geochang-gun, you have to undergo a swimsuit inspection by the county governor."

Geochang County Office in Gyeongnam Province
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At the time, the dinner was arranged by Geochang-gun to encourage the police officers who were in charge of security and traffic duties at the 'Geochanghan Madang Festival' held that day. Many people attended the event, including A and B, employees from related departments of the county office, and police officers.

After the issue surfaced and a complaint was filed, on the 6th of last month, Gu In-mo, the county governor of Geochang, issued a public apology addressing the inappropriate behavior of the senior public officials.

In the statement, Governor Gu said, "I apologize for the damage to the county's honor and the harm caused to related organizations due to the actions of senior public officials who should be role models more than anyone else," adding, "As the county governor, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility." He continued, "Whether the matter related to public officials is good or bad, I take responsibility as the county governor and apologize on their behalf," and added, "We will do our best to prevent such incidents from happening again."

Geochang-gun held an emergency meeting to discuss measures to prevent recurrence and removed both A and B from their positions.

During the police investigation, A and others admitted to the acts themselves but stated that they were jokes or acts and words made as encouragement. However, the police judged that their charges were valid based on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the molestation at the restaurant and witness statements, and sent the case to the prosecution.

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