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South Korea's #MeToo Movement Challenges Workplace Sexual Harassment

Jason Strother

   SEOUL - The office party is an integral part of South Korea's work
   culture. Known as hwaesik, these after-hours dinners, paid for by a
   boss on the company credit card, also include rounds of drinks and are
   often followed by hours of singing together at karaoke parlors, where
   alcohol continues to flow.

   Unlike karaoke bars in many Western countries, where people sing in
   front of total strangers, these establishments, called noraebang in
   Korean, feature private rooms that can accommodate large groups.
   However, while these outings are meant to build team spirit among
   colleagues, the close proximity of co-workers inside these singing
   chambers combined with a copious amount of alcohol make some female
   employees feel unsafe.

   "You sometimes have to dance with your boss or colleagues," said a
   39-year-old government worker who, out of privacy concerns, only gave
   her surname, Jeon.

   "I don't think my colleagues or bosses put me in a difficult situation
   intentionally, but they were too drunk and did something that wasn't
   necessarily pleasant to me," she said.

   Jeon described "bodies being very close together" during these unwanted
   encounters and feeling that she did not have the power to directly
   refuse her more senior male colleagues, especially when she began her
   career in civil service over a decade ago.

   With an uncomfortable laugh, Jeon said that "sometimes you feel like
   this is a bit of sexual harassment," and added that she believes most
   Korean women have experienced this situation.

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