By Kang Shin-who
Staff reporter
An immigration office worker has been accused of having beaten a Chinese worker who overstayed his visa.
According to Suwon Immigration Office in Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, a 48-year-old Chinese immigrant filed a complaint with the agency that one of their officers assaulted him.
The incident took place when the Chinese man, along with seven other illegal workers, was taken to the immigration office for questioning earlier this month.
In the complaint, the man stated an immigration official kicked him in the stomach and beat his face and back with handcuffs, while he was waiting for questioning.
The immigration office admitted the use of violence by one of its employees but denied the part that he used handcuffs to beat him.
“The accused is a driver of the crackdown team. Although he admitted he punched the Chinese in the stomach, he denied that he attacked the immigrant worker with handcuffs,” said Choi Keun-gu of the investigation team at the immigration office.
The driver, who is working for the agency on a contract-basis, already offered his resignation and the office has yet to decide whether to accept it.
The investigator said the 52-year-old driver said he tried to give a warning after he heard that the Chinese immigrant severely resisted and threatened to hurt other immigration officials with a broken bottle.
“But the Chinese man vehemently resisted in the process of taking him to the immigration office,” he said.
“There is no excuse for him using violence on the immigrant,” he added.