Police have secured the diary and mobile phone of a nurse in her 20s who died in connection with so-called "taeum" — a Korean slang term referring to workplace bullying that torments a person "until their soul burns to ashes" — at a hospital in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, launching a full-scale investigation.
According to reporting by The Seoul Economic Daily on Monday, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said at a press briefing the previous day, "We have received five pieces of evidence from the bereaved family, including the diary, mobile phone and PC of the victim, identified as A, and are analyzing them."
The diary secured by police was written by A herself during roughly one year of working at the hospital, according to reports. The diary was found to contain details of the workplace bullying A had reported to labor authorities in a complaint. Police plan to verify whether the bullying actually took place based on the records and the bereaved family's statements, and then review whether to formally book those involved.
Police also conducted about three hours of witness questioning of A's mother on the 3rd of this month, and are now calling in the victim's college friends as witnesses to obtain their statements. These friends did not work at the same hospital as the victim, but were known to have stayed in regular contact with A during her lifetime and heard about her bullying.
A was found dead at her home on the 2nd of last month. She had reported the "taeum" bullying to labor authorities shortly after resigning from the hospital in March last year. Following an investigation, the labor authorities acknowledged some of the alleged harassment and demanded corrective measures from the hospital. However, the hospital's response was found to have amounted to no more than a reprimand of the perpetrator.
After the case became known, President Lee Jae-myung called for a thorough investigation through social media, saying, "Taeum is a horrific form of violence that can never be justified." Considering the gravity of the case, police formed a 20-member dedicated investigation team led by Heo Tae-gyu, head of the metropolitan crime investigation unit, and began a pre-booking investigation.
