[Anchor]
A week ago, a police officer took his own life, leaving behind a suicide note stating that he was struggling because of his superior. It was just three days before his first wedding anniversary. SBS met with the bereaved family to hear the details.
Reporter Lee Se-hyeon has this exclusive report.
[Reporter]
"I am only struggling because of the section chief."
The scrawled handwriting shows signs of being crossed out, with blurred marks that appear to be tear stains.
On June 17, Police Officer A, who worked in the administration division of a police station in the Seoul metropolitan area, was found dead after leaving a suicide note expressing resentment toward his superior, Superintendent B.
In the note, he emphasized multiple times that his decision was not the fault of his other colleagues or his family.
After the funeral, the bereaved family met with SBS reporters and identified the workplace bullying by Superintendent B, who had been Officer A's superior for the past three months, as the cause.
[Family of Officer A: After the section chief arrived, he called (his mother) frequently. He would say, 'He seems like such a nitpicker with a germaphobe personality. It gives me a headache.']
The family claimed that the superior would order revisions to report phrasing on an hourly basis, demanding changes to even the smallest expressions.
[Family of Officer A: He said he couldn't do any other work because he was constantly making revisions.]
They added that Superintendent B repeatedly issued unreasonable work orders, such as requiring Officer A to come in on weekends to manage air conditioner cleaning and assigning him to pull weeds in the garden.
[Family of Officer A: He even had to clean air conditioners on the weekend and pull weeds... (Why would a police officer be pulling weeds?)]
The family expressed their outrage, stating that over the last three months, Officer A frequently engaged in self-deprecation, feeling as though his abilities were lacking, and often said he was afraid of the morning and could not sleep well.
[Oh Soo-young / Labor Attorney: We must comprehensively (evaluate) whether there was a work-related necessity and whether such mental distress was inflicted upon the employee.]
It is reported that Superintendent B visited the funeral home and apologized to the family, while also explaining that he was merely trying to be thorough with his work.
Meanwhile, the police station reportedly stated that "the air conditioner cleaning took place on the weekend due to the contractor's schedule, and other staff members also participated in the garden maintenance."
Reporters attempted to contact Superintendent B multiple times to hear his side, but he could not be reached.
The bereaved family reiterated that the truth must be clearly uncovered through an internal inspection.
[Family of Officer A: If frontline police officers are suffering from workplace bullying to the point of taking their own lives, isn't that a problem? If there is a problem with the system, the system must be improved...]
(Video Editing: Lee Seung-hee | VJ: Noh Jae-min | Design: Kim Ye-ji)
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