Some female school teachers of Incheon have claimed that they had to put up with sexual harassment by their superiors.
They made the claims in a questionnaire distributed by Noh Hyun-kyung, an Incheon City councilor, Yonhap News reported Wednesday.
They said sexual harassment mostly occurred in “noraebang,” or singing rooms, after dinner meetings at nearby restaurants.
They said they were unhappy when superiors asked them to dance together, and wanted to hold hands with them.
A teacher said she was asked to drink liquor by a principal who was notorious for making remarks on sexual harassment.
Some other respondents said they had to give gifts to principals on the Lunar New Year holiday and Chuseok, the Korean version of Thanksgiving Day, or when the principals were about to embark on business trips, according to Yonhap.
At one school, teachers presented the principal with gift certificates for his 60th birthday, they said.
They also claimed that sometimes, they were force to collect money and give it to principals ahead of their participation in training programs at home and abroad.
They said such irregularities occur since principals have clout as they evaluate teachers’ performances at school and give out promotions.