The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) decided that any sexual comment from an interviewer giving a sense of humiliation to a interviewee during a job interview constitutes sexual harassment. Subsequently, the NHRCK recommended a defendant take a special human rights course provided by the NHRCK and pay damages to a victim.
Cases reported to the Commission illustrate offensive scenes where a female interviewee were asked to answer questions like how many boyfriends she had in the past or how closely she had a physical contact with her boyfriend or a head of company touched breasts of a job seeker during an interview.
Sexual harassment during a hiring process is a serious problem since it is a wrongful exercise of power by the absolute strong that has authority to hire against the absolute weak, job seeker.
The NHRCK expresses a deep concern regarding such cases since it is worse when a person in high-position (mainly men) commits sexual harassment. Such cases indicate that he is actually avoiding responsibility to prohibit such disaster from occurrence as well as leads inflicting great mischief at workplace.
In this regard, the NHRCK reinforces programs for the prevention of sexual harassment; relevant educational courses are increased; publicity on the prevention of sexual harass are promoted; brochures and posters are distributed; review of related policies are conducted; and on-site investigations are continuously conducted. The NHRCK will make a constant effort to improve public awareness on the importance of prevention of sexual harassment during hiring process including, in particular, a job interview.
