Amid controversy that a Grade-7 driver civil servant in Yangyang County, Gangwon Province bullied a sanitation worker in the workplace, on the 23rd Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik directed related ministries to "investigate swiftly and take stern action."
The Presidential Office said Kang instructed, "The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), the police, and other relevant ministries should coordinate and promptly begin investigations and probes into whether the local public official violated the Local Public Officials Act and the Labor Standards Act, and into criminal acts such as assault, intimidation, and coercion, and take stern measures."
Kang also said, "Thoroughly audit or investigate the management and supervision status of the managers and superiors responsible for guiding and supervising the official in question, and take action according to the results."
Earlier, a media outlet reported that a Grade-7 driver civil servant, identified only as A and affiliated with Yangyang County, engaged in abuse of power, such as departing first without giving a ride to a sanitation worker and forcing the worker to trade stocks the official owned.
The Presidential Office said, "If these acts are true, they not only seriously damage the basic attitude and dignity required of public officials but also constitute criminal acts that must never occur."