Petitioner demanded installation of specific air filters in school cafeterias, flooding labor offices nationwide with repeat complaints
Threats included 'I'll come find you and kill you'; 13 officials counter-reported by the same petitioner
Ministry holds inaugural grievance mediation committee meeting, vowing firm action on malicious complaints while expanding outreach for legitimate ones
A person who filed more than 2,000 complaints with labor offices across the country demanding the installation of a specific air-purification filter in school cafeterias — and subjected 52 civil servants, including labor inspectors, to verbal abuse and threats — will be reported to prosecutors under the name of the employment and labor minister.
It is the first time the Ministry of Employment and Labor has taken legal action at the headquarters level against a petitioner who repeatedly filed complaints nationwide and obstructed the performance of official duties.
The ministry said Thursday it held the first session of its 2026 headquarters-level Grievance Communication and Mediation Committee, with four outside experts in occupational safety and employment, to discuss ways to resolve long-running and repeat complaints and respond to malicious petitioners.
The central item on the agenda was a formal complaint against a petitioner identified only as B, who had filed 2,026 grievances with labor offices across the country since August last year, demanding that specific air-purification filters be installed in school cafeteria kitchens. The ministry said the work in question does not constitute dust-generating work under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and that there is no legal obligation to install a particular type of filter, making it difficult to treat the matter as a violation of the law. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission reached the same conclusion and closed the case, but B continued to file complaints.
B threatened one staff member, saying "I'll come find you and kill you," and told another, "If you don't give me the answer I want within an hour, I'll have you fired." B also repeatedly called officials to hurl abuse at them and demanded they submit resignation letters. A total of 52 employees across the country were affected, and 13 of them — including labor inspectors — were themselves reported to prosecutors by B.
The ministry proposed a mediated interview with outside experts, but B declined, prompting the ministry to consider legal action. At Thursday's committee meeting, members said a formal complaint was warranted based on the harm suffered by staff and the results of legal consultations. The ministry plans to gather evidence and file a complaint in the minister's name on charges including obstruction of official duties and habitual intimidation.
Until now, verbal abuse and assaults by petitioners had generally been handled through complaints filed at the regional labor office level. The ministry said it would use this case as a turning point to make institutional-level legal responses to malicious complaints the standard practice, and to strengthen protections for affected employees.
For legitimate complaints, however, the ministry said it would expand communication channels.
Since September, the ministry has been operating grievance communication and mediation committees — led by outside experts — at both the headquarters and regional office levels. In one case, a job seeker in their 40s from Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, who had filed 29 complaints since 2024 out of dissatisfaction with employment support programs, was interviewed directly, after which the employment centers in Suncheon, Yeosu and Gwangyang jointly drew up a tailored job-placement support plan.
The approach has also yielded results in workplace harassment cases. The Daejeon Regional Employment and Labor Office reviewed nine cases through its outside expert committee through September, and overturned three cases that internal workplace investigations had initially dismissed as non-harassment.
Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said communication with the public is "the starting point for better labor services and the protection of workers' rights." He added that the ministry would "listen more closely to voices from the field while further strengthening efforts to protect employees and ensure they can focus solely on their work in a safe environment."
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