In South Korea, civil servant’s suicide spotlights privacy concerns amid ‘malicious’ cyberbullying culture
- Low-ranking government employees and celebrities are often easy prey for online bullies, analysts say, as bullies seek outlets for their ‘pent-up’ frustrations
- South Korea has a history of celebrities caving to online pressure and taking their own lives after facing distress from cyberbullying and rumours
The apparent suicide of a South Korean government official has underscored a pressing need in the country for stricter internet regulations and heightened public awareness in dealing with pervasive cyberbullying, experts say.
In the nation’s latest case of cyberbullying, a government worker became the target of relentless online harassment linked to an emergency road repair project that had caused significant traffic disruption.
The victim, a civil servant in his mid-30s, was found dead on Tuesday inside a parked car in the western city of Gimpo, with evidence linking it to suicide, according to police.
The deceased official, responsible for approving the pothole repairs, was reportedly subject to severe online trolling after his identity and office contact details were posted online.
“I want to strangle this official who is comfortably resting at home now”, an online user had posted. Another chimed in: “The official must be insane, blocking two lanes [of the three-lane road for pothole repair].”
Police administration professor Oh Yoon-sung at Soonchunhyang University said some government employees found it hard to sustain their superiors’ reproaches when faced with civic complaints.
“There are habitual complainers who abuse the citizen complaint system to raise issues with minor inconveniences that may occur while carrying out official projects and harass government employees they don’t like”, he told This Week in Asia.