SEOUL– A civil servants’ union filed a criminal complaint against Interior Minister Lee Sang-min on Monday on suspicion of business obstruction and abuse of power as the ministry is seeking disciplinary action over a recent survey the union conducted about the minister.
Last week, the Korean Government Employees’ Union released the result of a poll showing 83 percent of its members support punishing and sacking Lee over the bungled emergency response to the deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood.
The seven-point questionnaire also showed that a majority of members are opposed to the government’s workforce downsizing plan, a push to privatize some public service sectors and other labor policy plans.
The interior ministry immediately lambasted the poll as politically oriented and said it will begin to deliberate disciplinary action against those who organized or participated in the poll.
On Monday, the union lodged a complaint against Lee with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
“Seeking the opinion of union members is part of basic labor union activities, but (Lee) is oppressing the union by incriminating the poll for the reason that it included a question related to the Itaewon tragedy,” a labor union official said in a press conference.
The union also pressed the minister to step down to take responsibility for the deadly crowd crush, saying “A proper investigation and punishment (against Lee) will be possible only after he resigns as a minister in charge of supervising police.”
The labor union also warned it will refer the government to the International Labour Organization and other international human rights bodies for “labor repression.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency