Police Department Under Fire For Bullying Female Officer Who Was Sexually Harassed By 16 Other Officers

The Taebaek Police Department has become the target of severe backlash in the midst of their ongoing sexual harassment case.

According to KBS News, a female police officer, Ms. A reported on sexual harassment allegations in March of this year. Following an internal investigation, the National Police Agency confirmed that Ms. A’s allegations were indeed true, and 16 police officers were implicated with the crime. However, it took two years for the police department to act upon Ms. A’s cries, as they had previously ignored her reports.

Ms. A sat down for an exclusive interview with KBS News, where she shared the details about her painful experiences working for the Taebaek Police Department.

They would sneak into the women’s lounge and put flowers in my undergarments. They would also spread details about my private life with others.

— Ms. A

She also shared that the male police officers would blatantly tell her that her “face was obscene” and that they would make comments about her chest, “push your chest out more and work harder.”

However, when Ms. A reported all of this to her department, they sided with her perpetrators and bullied her with incessant attacks.

I became angry because I felt like my pain was not being recognized, it was being left out. Only the police department’s honor is important. They don’t even think about the pain of the female police officers, who make up less than 10% of the department.

— Ms. A

Netizens gathered online to express the collective anger they felt with the police department and the officers involved.

• “The f*cking police…”
• “What a disappointing country. Please use my tax money and get rid of these types of trash.”
• “Did they all collectively lose their minds? Why is it that the news is filled with never-ending stories like this? What, they can’t live without committing acts like this???? I’m getting so nauseous, I want to die. I’m trying hard not to generalize, but please stop you bast*rds.”
• “This is perfect, we can laugh at these criminals. Seriously, they’ve lost their minds.”
• “Barf, this is disgusting.”
• “If the police are doing this….seriously, we should get rid of the police and instead, be given individual guns. That way, we can take care of stuff like this.”
• “Oh my f*cking god.”

The Sexual Harassment and Violence Committee eventually became involved in the case, where they confirmed that there were a total of 16 police officers who were involved in Ms. A’s sexual harassment. It was reported that 12 of the officers were given disciplinary action, and 4 were given a verbal warning. In addition to that, the Taebaek Police Department was also issued a warning.

The specific levels of the officers’ disciplinary actions will be decided within the month by the Gangwon Police Agency Committee.