Karoshi is a burning question in Korea
Starting with Karoshi Watch in East Asia

Min Choi

FEB 26 2020

I'm going to start the first story with Karojisatsu in Korea.

I expect overwork death will get better gradually. Since the amendment of Labor Standards Act in 2018, legal working hours have been reduced up to 52 hours per week while it was allowed to work 68 hours per week legitimately before. However there is an exception for those who work at transportation or security business has no limitation on working hours. So many taxi drivers or security workers die from cardiovascular disease. As it is strict to lengthen working hours, intensity of labor has increased in many workplaces .

By comparison with Karoshi, Karojisatsu the first has gotten public attention in recent years. Korea suicide rate is seriously high. 13,670 people died from suicide in 2018 which is over twice as many as OECD average suicide rate and three times as many deaths from traffic accidents. suicide rate in Korea increased rapidly in 1998 which was economic crisis in East Asia, it hasn't reduced yet since Neoliberalism introduced in earnest. Even though it is certain that suicide rate has multiplied in a social and economic change background, people get noticed that workers die because of bullying and stress in a workplace.

The government suicide prevention measure in Korea has focused on improving awareness of suicide, reinforcing mental health care service and managing high risk group in mental health rather than resolving social causes. There is a strong stigma that those who committed suicide have a weak mind socially. That’s why it is few that officially approved an industrial accident.

We have the right to refuse to work in a hostile work environment : forceful results oriented, unhealthy competitive working environment. Photo by KILSH

In the late 2019s and early 2020s, as the media pays a great deal of attention to the issues of Karojisatsu, there is increased public awareness of this social issue. Karojisatsu, is originated from Japanese word and used interchangeably with work related suicide. Work-related suicide is not only limited to deaths from excessive working hours, but also includes social suicide from excessive workload due to work related stress.

On December, 5, 2019, a 25-year-old Sul-Yohan died by suicide. He worked as a co-counselor and coordinator for the pilot project which he worked as a lesion to provide career opportunities for people with disability. As he himself suffered from cerebral palsy(lesions), he was fit for the position where he could also be an advocate for the people in his shoes. He was asked to carry out a task working for 60 hours a month, seeking 4 new local participants monthly, counselling each of the participants at least 5 times in a month and writing a daily report. His monthly wage was $660 (not meeting a minimum hourly wage in South Korea). In addition, he was pressured by the head office to pay his partial wage back if he could not complete the given tasks. This put him under an intolerable strain feeling overwhelmed by his workload and work-related stress not being able to accomplish the given tasks on time. He left the last word apologizing to his co-workers and ended his life.

Marching people saying, 'Save Moon Joong-won'. Photo by KILSH

In addition, in November 2019, a 42-year-old jockey died by suicide. There are three official horse racing venues in South Korea and one of the venues is in Busan. In the past 10 years, 7 jockeys including the horse trainers died by suicide at the Busan venue and this time a-42-year-old jockey, Moon Joong-won, was also died at the Busan venue. In his suicide note, he revealed many accusations of corruptions within the racetracks, getting a raw deal by unprovided compensations after work-related injuries and disregard for jockeys’ workplace rights. To this day, his family fights against unfair treatment at work on behalf of him implementing measures to penalize charging officials of the racetracks and reinforcing safety measures to prevent future work-related suicide. As per his work contract, he was considered to be self-employed, therefore, his death would not fall within in the cases in industrial accidents. However, it is important to highlight that his death occurred as a result of work-related suicide caused by unbearable burden from workplace.

We view these two accidents as work-related suicide as evidenced by employee rights violations, unbearable burden from result oriented systems and vigorous competition between employees. When workers’ rights are being violated, we are exposed to unaddressed mental conditions driven by the overwhelming workload contributing to a major factor in work-related suicide rates. This phenomenon is perceived as a problem in East Asia, however, we begin to see this as a global issue among nations. For example, there was workplace shootings after workplace bullying in the United States and the mass suicide of 35 employees in France after a restructuring effort. Furthermore, we are concerned that with a stagnant economy and Digital revolution will create an environment where employers squeeze more productivity out of fewer employees and the situation will get worse. We, as an overwatch in East Asia, will continue to raise our voices against work-related suicide.

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Min Choi

Min Choi, an activist working at the Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health(KILSH). We in East Asia share lots of historical and cultural things in common. Sadly, one of the common things is that we all have long working hours and use Karoshi in general terms. Those who activists from Taiwan, Japan and Korea, fighting for labor human rights and health are committed to start Karoshi Watch in East Asia project. We'd like to share Karoshi cases of each country and find out similarities and differences between us. Through this way, we try to find out something doing together in order to let workers be independent and remove the word 'Karoshi' in the workplace.

Karoshi is a burning question in KoreaStarting with Karoshi Watch in East Asia

Min Choi

Min Choi

Karoshi is a burning question in Korea
Starting with Karoshi Watch in East Asia