A survey by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) found that in Korea, the people who most often commit human rights violations are male workplace supervisors in their 50s.
According to the 2025 human rights awareness survey of 17,045 adults released by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the 27th, among 3,514 respondents who said they experienced human rights violations in the past year, 45.2% cited the workplace as the location of the harm.
Among victims of human rights violations, 26.6% identified a workplace supervisor or superior as the perpetrator. By gender, perpetrators were 58.4% male and 33.4% female, with men outnumbering women. By age group, those in their 50s were the most common at 34.7%, followed by those 60 and older at 28.2%.
Yu Eun-hye, a professor in the Department of Information Sociology at Soongsil University, presented research findings at the national human rights statistics analysis forum on the previous day, saying, "The typical perpetrator profile of human rights violations in Korean society is a male workplace supervisor in his 40s or 50s," and noted, "Among highly educated and high-income groups, male supervisors in their 40s and 50s accounted for 65% of all perpetrators."
Of those who experienced human rights violations, 79.2% chose to remain silent. Only 13.2% actively objected or demanded correction. In 7.7% of cases, people even went along with the violation.
Jang Mi-hye, an honorary senior research fellow at the Korea Women's Development Institute (KWDI) who took part as a discussant, said, "Human rights violations in the workplace are a problem born of hierarchical organizational structures combined with cultures that enforce silence," adding, "Even when people recognize violations, many cannot respond due to a lack of reporting channels, fear of disadvantages, and isolation within the organization."