"I'm scared to go out to the office".Investigation into 'work bullying' in death of civil servant in his 50s

A text message left to him by the chief of Yeongju City Hall in his 50s / Yonhap News

Recently, a sixth-grade chief of Yeongju City Hall in Gyeongsangbuk-do was found dead, and police launched an investigation.

According to the Yeongju Police Station in Gyeongsangbuk-do, a 53-year-old civil servant of Yeongju City Hall was found dead in a car parked on a road in Munsu-myeon at around 10:30 p.m. on the 2nd.

Mr. A left a suicide note on his mobile phone in the form of a text message to him.

A's mobile phone message said, "The employees say they are having a hard time because of me. The employees' cold glances, words, and actions are so hard to mock, he said. "I'm so scared and scared to go to the office." I'm a person who doesn't need it in the organization, so I choose to stop taking a break forever," it reads.

In response, the bereaved family claimed, "In addition to bullying, I had a hard time hearing insulting words from my boss during the office or training period."

As the bereaved families of the deceased civil servants claim "collective harassment," the civil service union plans to enter a countermeasure meeting.

The Yeongju City Hall Civil Service Labor Union said it plans to hold an emergency steering committee and check whether there is any power abuse and harassment in the workplace.

The police are investigating the exact circumstances of the death through investigations around A and forensics on mobile phones.

※ If you have difficulties to talk about, such as depression, or if you have family members or acquaintances who are experiencing such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling on the suicide prevention counseling call ☎109.

Reporter Park Sun-young of Digital News Team