Director, 2 researchers at Geumsan institute referred to prosecutors over workplace harassment

The director of a research institute in Geumsan and two researchers have been referred to prosecutors on charges including assault for allegedly engaging in and turning a blind eye to workplace harassment.

According to Yonhap and the Geumsan Police Station in South Chungcheong Province, a fixed-term researcher identified as C was found dead inside a parked car on a road in Buri-myeon, Geumsan-gun, at around 10:30 a.m. on May 15. A suicide note found on a PC at C's residence described suffering workplace harassment, and the family subsequently filed a complaint with police, prompting an investigation.

The complaint alleged that C had been subjected to ongoing verbal and physical abuse by two researchers and had reported the harassment to the institute, but that the director had ignored it. Police concluded that all three suspects had sufficient grounds for charges.

Earlier this month, police sought an arrest warrant for the researcher believed to have played the leading role in the abuse, but a court rejected the application. All three were referred to prosecutors without being detained.