By Park Si-soo
Two senior Bank of Korea (BOK) officials have been disciplined for the alleged sexual harassment of a young female colleague over nearly two years.
They were stripped of their roles and official titles on Thursday. The central bank will organize a disciplinary committee to discuss the matter.
“It’s inappropriate to leave them working as team leaders because their acts were considered sexual harassment,” a BOK official said.
The scandal erupted last month after a female official about 20 filed a complaint with the bank’s discipline team, claiming the senior officials sexually harassed her for nearly two years.
The alleged victim said she had repeatedly been told: “Women are good at peeling fruit, and men are good at taking off women’s clothes.” She claimed she had frequently heard “sexually humiliating” comments in the office or at meetings outside the office.
The central bank held an emergency meeting on May 18, during which judges determined that the comments were “sexually abusive” and the two should be disciplined. One of the officials reportedly denies any wrongdoing.
BOK chief Lee Ju-yeol expressed regret for the scandal, saying: “Something that should not happen has happened. I will do my best to prevent a similar scandal from happening again.”