Gov’t to allow public servants to end abusive calls

Public servants will be able to end calls first if the callers use abusive language, the interior ministry said Thursday, as part of measures to better protect civil service workers in the wake of the suicide of a local government official in the city of Gimpo, west of Seoul. Each administrative office will also be allowed to decide whether or how much to disclose the names of civil servants on their web sites amid concerns that such information can be abused to track down and harass them, the ministry said. The measures came following public consensus on the need for a special response to protect public officials handling civil petitions, after a Level 9 official in Gimpo, just west of Seoul, committed suicide in March from a series of petition calls regarding traffic congestion caused by road repair work. Under the new regulations, public servants can give out a primary warning in case calls involve abusive language, and cut the calls short if it continues. They previously had to carry on with the calls despite the caller's cursing or lengthy talk unrelated to the petition. The calls will also be recorded from start to end, according to the ministry. The government will advise each administrative agency to form a response team to counter such abusive civil petitions and create a government task force itself, and plans to get them into operation in the second half of this year. Those who suffered from abusive petitions will be given time off and offered mental counseling and programs to give them emotional support, and permitted to be transferred to other positions. The government will set a definition for abusive petitions and guide the response measures by categorizing it under "illegal acts" and "violation of official duties." "It is the government's duty to protect public servants from abusive petitions," said Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, adding "We hope this set of comprehensive measures will help establish a culture where public servants dealing with civil petitions are respected." Source: Yon hap News Agency