Postal Worker’s Case Highlights Mental Health Gap in Korea’s Labor System (Yonhap)
A Seoul court rules that stress from complaints and investigation did not amount to an occupational injury.
SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — A Seoul court has denied a claim that the suicide of a postal worker, who had faced public complaints and disciplinary action over a mail delivery mistake, constituted a work-related death.
According to court records released Wednesday, the Seoul Administrative Court’s 13th division dismissed a lawsuit filed by the widow of the worker, identified only as B, against the Ministry of Personnel Management. B sought to overturn the government’s decision denying her claim for survivor benefits, arguing that her husband’s death in 2022 was the result of work-induced depression.
The man, A, had served as a mail carrier in Gwangju since 2002. In April 2021, he faced multiple complaints and a police investigation after he signed for a registered letter on behalf of an absent recipient. Although prosecutors later cleared him of wrongdoing—granting a suspension of indictment for one charge and dropping another—he received a formal reprimand from postal authorities the following February.
Two months later, A was found dead in his car. His wife claimed he had suffered severe emotional distress from the ordeal, especially after receiving the lowest possible performance evaluation two months before his death. She argued that the fear of further legal action and professional humiliation had triggered or worsened his depression.
The court, however, found insufficient evidence to link his death to work-related stress. “It appears that he experienced psychological pressure and distress,” the ruling stated, “but there are no clear indications that the stress rose to a level that an average person could not endure or overcome.”
The judges also noted that A had not sought psychiatric treatment before his death and that the forensic psychiatrist’s opinion—that he likely suffered from depression following the complaints—was speculative, based only on testimonies from relatives and colleagues rather than medical records.
“Simply inferring that his suicide stemmed from job-related depression, without objective evidence, cannot justify recognizing the death as an occupational accident,” the court concluded.
The ruling underscores the high bar South Korean courts continue to set for proving a causal link between workplace stress and suicide, a standard that labor advocates argue often leaves bereaved families without recourse.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
