National Assembly workers cause eatery mayhem
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A second-ranked National Assembly official throws a glass at a lower-ranked colleague during dinner at a Yeouido restaurant in Seoul on Aug. 16. / Courtesy of SBS
By Ko Dong-hwan
Employees of Korea’s National Assembly caused havoc at a Seoul restaurant when one of them threw a glass at a colleague.
A security camera inside the restaurant in Yeouido, central Seoul, captured the Aug. 16 incident. The National Assembly is in the area.
The video shows about 10 white-collar workers at a dinner gathering, when a man throws a glass at another across the table. Next to the attacker is another man on his knees.
According to broadcaster SBS, the attacker was identified as a second-ranked secretary, the one on his knees a fourth-ranked secretary and the victim a third-ranked chief of administration.
Before the incident, the lower-ranked secretary gave a speech during a raise-a-glass ceremony. But the speech somehow irritated his superior. He then made the man kneel and started criticizing him. The chief of administration called on his superior to stop. This enraged the second-ranked secretary further and he threw the glass.
The report quoted a restaurant waitress as saying they saw the victim get hit and start to bleed. They gave him a towel before calling an ambulance.
SBS’s report said that after the gathering turned sour, an assistant secretary at the scene took the attacker outside. The assistant secretary told SBS the glass “slipped” from the attacker’s hand.
The employees were warned not to talk about the incident in public as the National Assembly has “enough troubles already,” the report said.
The incident came less than 10 days after the National Assembly said it would clamp down on sexual harassment and embezzlement committed by high-ranking officials.