The Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office concluded the workplace harassment complaint against Kang Seon-woo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who resigned from the Ministerial candidate position due to allegations of mistreatment toward her aides, as 'exempt from legal application.'
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor and others on the 5th, the Seoul Southern District Labor Office recently ruled on Kang's workplace harassment complaint in this manner.
The Southern District Office stated, 'It is presumed that the harassment victim is an aide to a member of the National Assembly, but it has not been specifically identified,' and added, 'Considering that if the victim is a public official, other laws such as the National Public Service Act take precedence, it is difficult to apply the Labor Standards Act.'
Workplace harassment prohibition is specified in the Labor Standards Act. However, the Labor Standards Act applies to workers employed by business sites with five or more employees. It cannot be applied to those who do not have employee status, such as public officials and freelancers.
Joo Jin-woo, a member of the People Power Party who filed a complaint against Kang, wrote on his Facebook that day, 'Shouldn't the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Labor Office protect workers and address the mistreatment of Democratic Party workers rather than just glossing over the incidents?' He emphasized, 'Even now, the Democratic Party and the Lee Jae-myung government must hold strict accountability for the mistreatment of aides and initiate reforms to prevent recurrence.'
Meanwhile, Kang was embroiled in allegations of mistreatment of aides during the verification process for the Ministerial candidate position, where she allegedly had aides repair toilets and dispose of garbage. Although she stated at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's confirmation hearing, 'The media reports are somewhat exaggerated,' on July 23, she expressed her intention to resign from the candidate position, apologizing to the public for any distress caused by her actions.