[Anchor]

A female contract employee at the Korea Forest Service was sexually assaulted by a male colleague. However, the agency failed to suspend or discipline the perpetrator. In the end, it was the victim who resigned, living in constant fear of running into him.

Morning Zoom-in, reporter Kim Minjun has the story.

[Reporter]

A, a woman in her 20s who worked as a contract employee at a regional forest service office in the Gyeongbuk region, was sexually assaulted by an official identified as B, an eighth-grade civil servant, following a company dinner in July of last year.

B had followed A into her home under the pretext of escorting her back while she was heavily intoxicated.

[A: I remember feeling someone touching my body while I was lying down at home.]

Although B reportedly denied the allegations during the initial investigation, claiming he only stayed for about 15 minutes and fell asleep at a distance, his DNA was found on A's undergarments. He was subsequently indicted on charges of quasi-forcible indecency.

In court, B admitted to the charges from the first hearing, expressing remorse. The prosecution has requested a one-year-and-six-month prison sentence, and the first-instance verdict is scheduled for next month.

Immediately after the incident, the Korea Forest Service held a sexual harassment grievance committee and separated the two individuals. However, the expected suspension or disciplinary action did not follow.

Instead, B was transferred to a national forest management office under the same regional forest service, leaving A to bear the fear alone.

Because their work duties frequently overlapped, A had to go as far as changing her work schedule to avoid running into him.

[A: (Other employees) were completely unaware of the incident, and I was in a position where I had to go to the office where the perpetrator was (for work purposes).]

The disciplinary committee was only convened for the first time on July 6, nearly a year after the incident occurred, and it failed to reach a conclusion.

The Korea Forest Service stated that it would make a decision only after seeing the results of the first-instance verdict next month.

A's repeated requests for B to be suspended were ignored.

[Korea Forest Service Official: It is not just about the official (the victim); we also have to consider the other party (the suspect) when it comes to disciplinary action.]

A eventually left her job in early April.

[A: If he appeals and it goes to the second trial, I feel like they would just say they need to wait for the second-instance results as well.]

[Lee Dong-hoon/Attorney: It is highly unusual to remain passive. It is standard practice to first suspend the individual and then impose additional disciplinary measures based on the trial results.]

Following the start of SBS's reporting, the Korea Forest Service announced that it had suspended B from his position as of July 16.

(Video reporting: Lee Sang-hak, Video editing: Lee Hong-myung, Design: Park Cheon-woong)