‘Gapjil’ is a Korean word that means abusing power against inferior people. The shocking abuse of power by the group chairman Yang Jin-ho has become public knowledge and has raised criticism of such abuse again. There have been many cases of abusing power, but the case of Yang Jin-ho was especially severe. Therefore, it shocked people more than previous cases of power abuse.
  This case spread when online media released a video in April of 2015 where Yang Jin-ho assaulted and slapped the face of an employee in his office. It was revealed that he directed someone to record it as a personal memory, so it gave a shock to people. Since then, similar videos about him have been released. Those videos contained more sadistic behavior. In one video, he gave a crossbow and a Japanese sword to employees, and then he had employees kill chickens. Employees hesitated to kill, but he swore at the employees and then he shot the chicken with a crossbow. Also, he forced employees to dye their hair. He also opened their mouths forcibly and made them eat raw garlic. In the videos, his abuse of power was grotesque.
  Lee Hyun-jin (’15, Dept. of Materials Engineering) said, “Recently, such abuses of power have been exposed repeatedly. The development of media helped reveal it, and I was sad that such events happened again and again.”
  In fact, other instances of abuse of power have been reported in recent years. Choi Cheol-won, a representative of M&M, became infamous for abusing power. Also, there was the nut rage incident of Cho Hyun-a, the CEO of the Korean Air.
  There have been a variety of behaviors uncovered in the cases of power abuse. There was physical violence, verbal assault, rape, and sexual violence. According to a 2018 survey about labor conditions, 23.26% of respondents had experienced verbal abuse from a superior, and 20.28% of respondents experienced threats or humiliating actions. More than 50% of respondents responded that they had contemplated suicide in the last year. Cases of abusing power rarely result in punishments for the superior unless the cases are reported by mass media.
  Why do superiors abuse their power? K, the boss of an electronic communications company, pointed out the lack of current laws to punish superiors who abuse power and Korea’s unique hierarchy culture. “As a result of my experience with many companies around the world, I have noticed that Korean companies are more rigid than other companies. It means that Korean companies have a clear hierarchy, so high-ranking people abuse their power more easily, and low-ranking people have difficulty fighting back because of the clear hierarchy. And in many cases, punishments are so weak.”
  How can we prevent those cases? In response, K replied that he implemented various methods. “I think that abusing power is an internal malaise for companies. They should treat the low-ranking people with respect, and when abuse occurs, the high-ranking people should be punished strongly. There’s a program that teaches proper management to high-ranking employees. After witnessing much power abuse in the media and other companies, I feel that it ruins the atmosphere in a company. Therefore, I’m always careful not to abuse my power.”
  Abusing power is one of the evil habits in Korean society. Not only does it ignore and trample one’s personal rights, but it also reduces the trust and loyalty among employees. Furthermore, it worsens the atmosphere of a company. The high-ranking people should reject the hierarchy culture, and they should make a system that prevents power abuse.

By Bang Ui-hwan l janas39@cbnu.ac.kr
By Park Jeong-min l jm38@cbnu.ac.kr