Seoul Medical Center faces new nurse bullying allegations, recalling 2019 'taem-eum' death

Seoul Medical Center is once again facing allegations of workplace bullying, this time against a nurse identified only as "A." The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union's Seoul branch held a press conference outside the presidential office on Tuesday to demand a thorough investigation and fundamental solutions.

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The previous person in charge also resigned after demanding more staff, and it was work that neither a new person nor an experienced person could complete within the given time. To me, who worked overtime, whether it was dawn or weekend, the perpetrator (supervisor) repeatedly turned all problems into personal responsibility and provided emotional criticism and excessive pressure.

According to the union, "A," an administrative nurse, was assigned an overwhelming workload in April of last year without adequate handover. Despite her efforts, including working overtime and on weekends, "A" faced repeated personal criticism and emotional pressure from her supervisor, who allegedly blamed her for all issues and threatened to restrict her overtime pay and leave.

In a statement, "A" described the situation as "structural bullying in a poor working environment" that cannot be resolved by individual effort. She noted that her predecessor had also resigned after demanding more staff. "A" filed a complaint with the Ministry of Labor on June 26, and Seoul Medical Center's internal committee for emotional labor protection is also investigating.

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Structural bullying is repeated in a poor working environment, and this is not a problem that can be solved by individual effort or patience.

This situation echoes a tragic incident in January 2019, when nurse Seo Ji-yoon died by suicide after experiencing workplace bullying, an event later recognized as a work-related injury. A fact-finding committee established after her death recommended improvements to the work environment in September of that year. Kang Seong-gyu, vice chairman of the union, criticized the hospital's management, stating that despite promises to prevent recurrence and change the organizational culture, nothing has changed. He attributed the current allegations to the management's "incompetent complicity" in neglecting chronic understaffing and excessive work stress, attempting to resolve it through individual sacrifice and vertical control.

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The management, who promised to prevent recurrence and change the organizational culture (in 2019), has changed nothing. This is structural violence born from the incompetent complicity of Seoul Medical Center management, who neglected chronic understaffing and excessive work stress and tried to solve it with the sacrifice of workers and vertical control.