Death of South Korean weather-caster prompts government’s calls against workplace bullying
Yoanna Oh, a freelance weather-caster from MBC, had claimed she was bullied by her colleagues
The South Korean government and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) have pledged to strengthen protections against workplace bullying in response to the death of MBC freelance weather-caster Yoanna Oh, who allegedly endured harassment from colleagues before taking her life.
Senior government officials and PPP lawmakers held a policy consultation meeting last Friday to discuss potential measures, including a special inspection of MBC by the labour ministry to ascertain if its internal investigation was delayed or deemed inadequate.
PPP also announced plans to introduce a bill aimed at preventing workplace harassment for freelance and platform workers who lacked the protections afforded to full-time employees.
“The government and the PPP share the same concerns over the fact that a young worker died as a result of conflict among employees and that the company took no immediate action upon recognising the situation,” Kim Sang-hoon, the party’s top policymaker, said at a press briefing.
Oh, who died on September 15 aged 28, reportedly left behind a 17-page suicide letter on her phone that detailed how she had been harassed by her colleagues. The cause of her death was not reported publicly until December.
Her family had filed a lawsuit against the colleagues mentioned in her note, alleging workplace bullying.
Oh had joined MBC in May 2021 and, according to her family, began facing bullying from March the following year. Their lawsuit claims she endured two years of workplace bullying, pointing to diary entries and chat records as evidence.
