Young civil servants dislike treating seniors to meals: survey

Nearly 70 percent of government workers dislike a long-standing custom in their workplaces that encourages lower-level officials to occasionally treat their superiors to a meal.

Some 75.7 percent of respondents said they were aware of the tradition, according to a survey of 12,526 government officials across the country conducted by Rep. Wi Seong-gon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Nearly half -- 44 percent -- had experienced the custom within the past year.

But the survey showed that 69.2 percent of the respondents have negative perception toward the practice, with 44.7 percent saying that they view it in "a very negative way." When asked why they thought so, 84 percent said it was an "unreasonable and outdated policy."

When co-workers dine together in South Korea, the person of significantly higher age, social status or rank at work usually pays for the other person's meal. In reverse, the custom at issue calls for low-ranked officials in the nine-grade civil servant system -- who presumably have most meals out at work paid for by their superiors -- to take their bosses out occasionally.

On such occasions, 57.6 percent of the respondents said they treated their bosses to lunch, 7.2 percent to dinner, and 10.4 percent to meals accompanied by alcohol.

The survey showed that in 77.1 percent of cases, each team member pays at least something out of their own pocket. But 4.1 percent of the respondents said they use workplace funds.

In a free-form response segment of the survey, the younger workers complained that this tradition causes them distress. One person said choosing a restaurant, reserving it, and setting the table in advance was a hindrance to focusing on his or her duties in the morning.

Several hundred respondents called for the custom to be banned, while some petitioned for audits of specific cases.