▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: This is the lawyer’s eye corner. Today again, we will be joined by Attorney Jayoung Yoon. The lawyer is with me, right? hello?
▶Jayoung Yoon: Yes, hello.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: Yes. Let's take a look at the first case you prepared. The story goes that a man in his 20s who was dissatisfied with the handling of civil complaints was arrested for assaulting a court official. Please tell me.
▶Jayoung Yoon: Yes. On August 14, Mr. A was arrested at the Cheongju District Court Criminal Division office on charges of obstruction of official duties by hitting civil servant B on the head and face several times with his hand. At the time, Mr. A was being tried without detention on charges of causing injury. It is reported that he assaulted a court official out of dissatisfaction with the handling of his civil complaint. It is reported that the victim, Mr. B, is a recently assigned employee who suffered serious facial injuries due to assault by Mr. A and is currently receiving treatment at the hospital.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: Yes. They are called malicious complainants. Incidents of assault on public officials continue, so what will be the level of punishment for obstruction of official duties? Attorney, as you know, I don't think I've seen many people being arrested on charges of obstruction of official duties in the past. This is why there are constant criticisms that public officials are not properly protected, but I wonder whether cases of arrest are now frequent.
▶ Ja-Young Yoon: Yes, the crime of obstruction of official duties is punished as a serious crime if it is violated in that it infringes on the official duties of public institutions, that is, the qualifications of state institutions. The criminal law stipulates that anyone who assaults or threatens a public official performing his/her duties shall be punished by imprisonment for up to 5 years or by a fine of up to 10 million won. Additionally, the punishment is increased if a person poses a threat to multiple people or interferes with the execution of official duties by carrying a dangerous object. As you mentioned, as the number of malicious complainants increases, incidents of obstruction of official duties have become more frequent. As I mentioned earlier, they are punished for the serious crime of violating the qualifications of state institutions, and there are many cases where repeat offenders are arrested.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I see. All right. Let's move on to the next incident. There were also sentences for foreigners who smuggled hundreds of millions of won worth of drugs into the country. Please tell me.
▶Jayoung Yoon: Yes. In around July 2021, Mr. A and Mr. B, who are Thai, brought into the country about 4 kg of Philopon, worth about 1 billion won, made in Thailand, using international mail, and around September of the same year, they brought 10,000 kg of Philopon, a synthetic drug made in Laos, worth 700 million won. They are suspected of bringing about 4,000 tablets into the country by disguising them as health functional foods. They were indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and the court in charge sentenced Mr. A and Mr. B to seven years in prison each. Additionally, Mr. C, who aided and abetted their crime, was sentenced to five years in prison. The court stated the reason for ruling that the defendants need to be severely punished as they have continued to import and sell drugs for a considerable period of time and appear to have distributed 4kg of Philopon on the market.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I understand. Next is the next incident. A worker who claimed to have been retaliated against for reporting workplace harassment filed a civil suit against the company, but lost. Please explain.
▶Jayoung Yoon: Yes, Mr. A was working at a company that produces electric vehicle battery cells, etc. Around June of last year, I reported harassment at work, saying that I heard insulting remarks from my boss, Mr. B, such as saying, You're not even an elementary school student, so you have to tell me everything one by one, and that the salary you receive is a waste. Accordingly, the company began an investigation, and although it is difficult to say that Mr. B's comments alone amounted to workplace harassment, they confirmed that he had ignored other employees and made insulting remarks, and notified Mr. A that he had been transferred to another department. Afterwards, an anonymous tip was received that Mr. A was unable to perform his normal duties due to illness, but instead of taking sick leave, he was transferred to a department with a relatively low workload as a personnel request and was spending his work time on recuperation. Based on this, the company took personnel action to assign Mr. A to another department while continuing to handle his existing duties. At this time, the company conducted an investigation into Mr. A's personnel transfer and job exclusion procedures, and found that no circumstances of improper solicitation or negligent performance of work were confirmed, and personnel management was conducted to promote fairness in work assignment and improve productivity through efficient human resource management. It was made clear that this was an order. However, after requesting one month of leave, Mr. A filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming 100 million won in damages. Accordingly, the court ruled that the plaintiff's appointment was not outside the scope of the legitimate exercise of personnel rights, that it was difficult to recognize that it amounted to unfavorable treatment, and that there was no evidence to support this, and ruled that the plaintiff lost the case.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I see. I reported workplace harassment, but the court ruled that it was not retaliation. All right. This is the last incident. The news is that a group of people who traveled around construction sites in the North Chungcheong region and committed illegal activities were sentenced to prison. Please tell me.
▶ Ja-Young Yoon: Yes, Mr. A and others went around construction sites in the North Chungcheong region from April to December last year and extorted money by filing civil complaints and threatening construction delays. It is known that 85 million won was received from 11 construction companies during this period. Accordingly, they were arrested and indicted on charges of violating the law on punishment of violent acts and joint blackmail. The court sentenced Mr. A, head of the Chungbuk Regional Construction Union Federation, to 10 months in prison. Two union officials from the Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong Eastern Branches of the Construction Workers' Union who were indicted on the same charges were also sentenced to two years in prison and one year and eight months in prison, respectively.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I understand. Today, we looked into incidents ranging from assaults on public officials to drug smuggling and illegal activities at construction sites. Attorney, the promised time has passed. We'll see you next time.
▶Jayoung Yoon: Thank you.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: You have been working with attorney Ja-young Yoon until now.
▶Jayoung Yoon: Yes, hello.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: Yes. Let's take a look at the first case you prepared. The story goes that a man in his 20s who was dissatisfied with the handling of civil complaints was arrested for assaulting a court official. Please tell me.
▶Jayoung Yoon: Yes. On August 14, Mr. A was arrested at the Cheongju District Court Criminal Division office on charges of obstruction of official duties by hitting civil servant B on the head and face several times with his hand. At the time, Mr. A was being tried without detention on charges of causing injury. It is reported that he assaulted a court official out of dissatisfaction with the handling of his civil complaint. It is reported that the victim, Mr. B, is a recently assigned employee who suffered serious facial injuries due to assault by Mr. A and is currently receiving treatment at the hospital.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: Yes. They are called malicious complainants. Incidents of assault on public officials continue, so what will be the level of punishment for obstruction of official duties? Attorney, as you know, I don't think I've seen many people being arrested on charges of obstruction of official duties in the past. This is why there are constant criticisms that public officials are not properly protected, but I wonder whether cases of arrest are now frequent.
▶ Ja-Young Yoon: Yes, the crime of obstruction of official duties is punished as a serious crime if it is violated in that it infringes on the official duties of public institutions, that is, the qualifications of state institutions. The criminal law stipulates that anyone who assaults or threatens a public official performing his/her duties shall be punished by imprisonment for up to 5 years or by a fine of up to 10 million won. Additionally, the punishment is increased if a person poses a threat to multiple people or interferes with the execution of official duties by carrying a dangerous object. As you mentioned, as the number of malicious complainants increases, incidents of obstruction of official duties have become more frequent. As I mentioned earlier, they are punished for the serious crime of violating the qualifications of state institutions, and there are many cases where repeat offenders are arrested.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I see. All right. Let's move on to the next incident. There were also sentences for foreigners who smuggled hundreds of millions of won worth of drugs into the country. Please tell me.
▶Jayoung Yoon: Yes. In around July 2021, Mr. A and Mr. B, who are Thai, brought into the country about 4 kg of Philopon, worth about 1 billion won, made in Thailand, using international mail, and around September of the same year, they brought 10,000 kg of Philopon, a synthetic drug made in Laos, worth 700 million won. They are suspected of bringing about 4,000 tablets into the country by disguising them as health functional foods. They were indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and the court in charge sentenced Mr. A and Mr. B to seven years in prison each. Additionally, Mr. C, who aided and abetted their crime, was sentenced to five years in prison. The court stated the reason for ruling that the defendants need to be severely punished as they have continued to import and sell drugs for a considerable period of time and appear to have distributed 4kg of Philopon on the market.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I understand. Next is the next incident. A worker who claimed to have been retaliated against for reporting workplace harassment filed a civil suit against the company, but lost. Please explain.
▶Jayoung Yoon: Yes, Mr. A was working at a company that produces electric vehicle battery cells, etc. Around June of last year, I reported harassment at work, saying that I heard insulting remarks from my boss, Mr. B, such as saying, You're not even an elementary school student, so you have to tell me everything one by one, and that the salary you receive is a waste. Accordingly, the company began an investigation, and although it is difficult to say that Mr. B's comments alone amounted to workplace harassment, they confirmed that he had ignored other employees and made insulting remarks, and notified Mr. A that he had been transferred to another department. Afterwards, an anonymous tip was received that Mr. A was unable to perform his normal duties due to illness, but instead of taking sick leave, he was transferred to a department with a relatively low workload as a personnel request and was spending his work time on recuperation. Based on this, the company took personnel action to assign Mr. A to another department while continuing to handle his existing duties. At this time, the company conducted an investigation into Mr. A's personnel transfer and job exclusion procedures, and found that no circumstances of improper solicitation or negligent performance of work were confirmed, and personnel management was conducted to promote fairness in work assignment and improve productivity through efficient human resource management. It was made clear that this was an order. However, after requesting one month of leave, Mr. A filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming 100 million won in damages. Accordingly, the court ruled that the plaintiff's appointment was not outside the scope of the legitimate exercise of personnel rights, that it was difficult to recognize that it amounted to unfavorable treatment, and that there was no evidence to support this, and ruled that the plaintiff lost the case.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I see. I reported workplace harassment, but the court ruled that it was not retaliation. All right. This is the last incident. The news is that a group of people who traveled around construction sites in the North Chungcheong region and committed illegal activities were sentenced to prison. Please tell me.
▶ Ja-Young Yoon: Yes, Mr. A and others went around construction sites in the North Chungcheong region from April to December last year and extorted money by filing civil complaints and threatening construction delays. It is known that 85 million won was received from 11 construction companies during this period. Accordingly, they were arrested and indicted on charges of violating the law on punishment of violent acts and joint blackmail. The court sentenced Mr. A, head of the Chungbuk Regional Construction Union Federation, to 10 months in prison. Two union officials from the Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong Eastern Branches of the Construction Workers' Union who were indicted on the same charges were also sentenced to two years in prison and one year and eight months in prison, respectively.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I understand. Today, we looked into incidents ranging from assaults on public officials to drug smuggling and illegal activities at construction sites. Attorney, the promised time has passed. We'll see you next time.
▶Jayoung Yoon: Thank you.
▷Yeon Hyeon-cheol: You have been working with attorney Ja-young Yoon until now.
