Subordinate employees mobilized for children's wedding… Internal criticism

As it was revealed that subordinate employees were mobilized as traditional wedding roles of "groom's bearers" and "lantern carriers" for the wedding of the children of a head of a public institution, Korail, a heated controversy regarding organizational culture has arisen.

According to a report by SBS on the 25th, on the 19th, a wedding was held in a park in Daejeon for the child of Korail's head, Mr. A. The event was conducted in the form of a traditional wedding, and this is where the problem began.

Employees from Mr. A's department played the role of bearer for the flower palanquin the bride was in, while female employees led the wedding procession holding traditional lanterns. Some employees were also reportedly tasked with various duties such as parking guidance and snap photography.

As the controversy spread, Mr. A explained, "The employees voluntarily participated," adding, "It was an event that was held with good intentions." However, internal employees did not take this explanation at face value.

In the anonymous community 'Blind,' cynical reactions such as "Why are employees being mobilized for a private event?" and "Is this the Korean Palanquin Company?" flooded in. Although an explanation was posted on the bulletin board, the cold internal atmosphere has not easily settled. One employee expressed bitterness, stating, "Even if it was voluntary, a superior should have stepped in and said 'let's not do this.'"

Korail, assessing the situation as serious, held an emergency meeting chaired by the president. The company also stated that it would conduct ethical management training for major executives.

Additionally, they announced that they would hire an external labor firm to thoroughly ascertain the facts and review follow-up measures such as disciplinary actions depending on the results.

A Korail official stated, "We will take strong measures to prevent hierarchical culture from being repeated within the organization."

Image source: Korail logo / Photo: Insight, unrelated material photo / News1