Weapon Against a Colleague

A document summarizing the phenomenon in which workplace conflicts among colleagues escalate into violent incidents involving dangerous objects such as weapons.

Weapon Against a Colleague

Overview

The expression Weapon Against a Colleague refers to cases in workplaces and organizations where conflict or harassment among colleagues escalates into violent incidents involving dangerous objects such as weapons. It is not merely a private dispute between individuals but is treated as an occupational safety and criminal law issue arising from a combination of problems in the work environment, organizational culture, and safety management system. The purpose of this document is to summarize the conceptual, legal, and preventive implications of this type of incident rather than to reconstruct the details of a specific case.

Main Content

Concept and Scope

Violence using a weapon is an act that creates serious risk to another person's life and body, leaving psychological aftereffects such as post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and loss of interpersonal trust as well as physical injury. Colleagues in the same space, including witnesses, may also experience secondary trauma, and the psychological safety and productivity of the entire organization are damaged together. Therefore, this issue cannot be reduced to the relationship between perpetrator and victim; it is understood as a risk factor that organizations and society must manage together.

Background

The background of such incidents includes repeated harassment and ostracism, frustration over unfair personnel evaluations, long working hours and chronic stress, breakdown in communication with supervisors and colleagues, and insufficient intervention in mental health problems. In particular, it is repeatedly pointed out that when conflict is left unattended for a long time without official reporting or mediation procedures, anger accumulates and the risk of it being expressed as accidental or planned violence increases.

Legal Issues

Threatening another person with a weapon can be charged as special intimidation (Article 261) under the Criminal Act; injuring someone with a weapon can be charged as special injury (Article 258-2); and if intent to kill is recognized, it may be charged as murder or attempted murder. Workplace harassment itself is governed by Articles 76-2 and 76-3 of the Labor Standards Act, which stipulate the employer's duties to prevent, investigate, and protect victims, and if an employer neglects safety and health measures, liability under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act may arise. In addition, the legitimacy of disciplinary action or dismissal against the perpetrator is reviewed together with employment rules and procedural fairness.

Response Procedures

When an incident occurs, the first priority is securing physical safety and reporting to 119 or 112, after which evidence such as witness statements and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage should be preserved. Victims should secure proof of injury, including a medical certificate, and may request that the company receive a workplace harassment report and take protective measures such as transfer or separation of the workplace. Separately from criminal proceedings, a labor inspection petition, a request for remedy to the Labor Relations Commission, and an application for industrial accident benefits may proceed in parallel, and receiving psychological treatment and legal counseling together is recommended.

Prevention and Organizational Tasks

The core of prevention is creating a structure that detects conflict early and channels it into official procedures. Emphasized approaches include including workplace violence and the risks of dealing with customers and colleagues in risk assessment items, operating grievance channels independently, and regularizing training for managers on conflict mediation and mental health crisis response. Physical safety measures such as access control, emergency bells, and deployment of security personnel also need to be implemented alongside these efforts.

Recent Trends

In 2024–2025, discussions continued on legislative and institutional improvements to enhance the effectiveness of workplace harassment prohibition regulations, and the trend of including workplace violence and emotional labor risks in workplace risk assessments spread. From January 2024, as the Serious Accidents Punishment Act applied to workplaces with five or more regular workers overall, the perspective strengthened that employers bear safety and health management responsibility for serious consequences caused by violence within an organization. In addition, media ethics standards for protecting victim identity and preventing secondary harm are being discussed in incident reporting, and companies are trending toward expanding counseling and psychological support programs (EAP) and anonymous reporting channels.