248 work-related complaints filed against inspectors since special protection unit launched

Filings rose from 54 in 2023 to 74 last year; 62 recorded in just the first 5 months of this year

Annual complaints approach 26 million; calls grow to shield inspectors' independent judgment

Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon speaks at an awards ceremony honoring outstanding labor inspectors, held at the Jeon Tae-il Memorial Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on April 29. [Ministry of Employment and Labor]
Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon speaks at an awards ceremony honoring outstanding labor inspectors, held at the Jeon Tae-il Memorial Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on April 29. [Ministry of Employment and Labor]

Abusive complaints — including verbal threats and physical assaults — directed at the Ministry of Employment and Labor have fallen sharply, but the number of criminal complaints filed against labor inspectors by members of the public over their official duties has been rising rapidly. In just the first five months of this year, filings already exceeded 80 percent of last year's full-year total.

According to data submitted to the National Assembly by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and obtained by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Hak-young of the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, a total of 248 work-related criminal complaints were filed against labor inspectors between August 2023, when the ministry launched its special unit to protect employees from unusual complaints, and May of this year.

Breaking the figures down by year, filings stood at 54 between August and December 2023, rose to 58 in 2024 and climbed further to 74 last year. This year, 62 cases were received in just the January-to-May period — already 83.8 percent of last year's full-year total in only five months.

Of the 248 cases, the ministry provided legal support in 37, including drafting written opinions, offering legal consultations and arranging attorney representation. The remaining 209 cases did not involve formal summons from investigative authorities and received no additional legal assistance.

Abusive complaints against ministry staff, by contrast, have been declining. Annual abusive complaint figures rose from 2,436 in 2022 to 3,116 in 2023, then fell to 1,156 in 2024 and dropped further to 624 last year. In the first six months of this year, 244 such incidents were recorded.

By type, verbal abuse accounted for the largest share of last year's abusive complaints at 403 cases, followed by threats at 77 and sexual harassment at 10. In documented incidents, one inspector was physically assaulted while waiting for an elevator in a hallway by a complainant upset that a claim for early-shift pay had been denied; another was punched twice while trying to restrain a disruptive visitor inside a government building.

The ministry launched its special employee protection unit in August 2023 and has since toughened its response, making it standard practice to report physical assaults against staff to police or file institutional complaints. Of the 25 assaults on staff recorded since 2023, four were handled through institutional complaints and 12 through police reports. The remaining nine cases were closed without further action because the affected employees did not wish to pursue punishment.

The overall volume of complaints the ministry handles is also substantial. Annual filings fell from about 25.678 million in 2022 to about 24.53 million in 2023, then rose for two consecutive years to about 24.748 million in 2024 and about 26.188 million last year. Through June of this year, about 14.507 million cases had already been received.

As the ministry oversees employment and labor matters that directly affect people's daily lives — including wage theft and unemployment benefits — it handles one of the heaviest complaint workloads among central government agencies. Labor inspections in particular frequently pit the interests of employers and workers against each other, leaving individual inspectors significantly exposed to the risk of criminal complaints.

"Verbal abuse from complainants has decreased, but the number of complaints filed against inspectors has grown significantly," lawmaker Lee said. "The ministry must build a system in which it shares responsibility for inspectors' decisions, so that the inspectors who stand watch over labor sites can exercise their judgment without fear of being sued."


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