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beijing, sept. 22 (xinhua) -- about 40 percent of employees who reported workplace bullying were retaliated against, a south korean survey on workplace bullying shows.

according to the korea herald on the 21st, gabjil 119, a south korean organization dedicated to helping victims of workplace bullying, surveyed 1,000 office workers in the second quarter of this year. the results showed that among the 305 respondents who said they had been bullied in the workplace, only 12.1% said they had reported it to the company or union, and 2.6% said they had reported it to relevant government agencies. among the reporters, 40% were treated unfairly at work afterwards.

the survey showed that the vast majority of employees were unwilling to report workplace bullying. about 57.7% of respondents who had experienced workplace bullying chose to "accept it" and 19.3% said they had resigned.

when asked why they did not take action, 47.1% of respondents said: "even if action is taken, things do not look like they will get better." 31.8% of respondents worried that doing so might put themselves at a disadvantage in the future.

gabjil 119 staff pointed out that the negative response of government agencies and relatively light punishment measures are likely to lead to retaliation from bullies against whistleblowers. even if retaliation occurs, the government will give bullies 14 days to correct their behavior. only if they fail to correct their behavior will it be considered a crime. "this is actually a kind of indulgence."

however, the ministry of employment and labor said that according to the country's labor standards act, those who retaliate against whistleblowers of workplace bullying may be subject to up to three years of criminal punishment or a fine of 30 million won (about 159,000 yuan). "if the whistleblower or victim wants the bully to be punished, (the ministry of employment and labor) will immediately initiate criminal punishment procedures." (qiao ying)