Intern of a major corporation commits suicide due to co-workers

A young woman in her twenties, who worked as an intern for a well-known corporation, took her own life because she couldn't withstand the demeaning bullying from her fellow co-workers any longer.

29-year-old Won So Yeon was working as an intern designer at LF when she told a close acquaintance that she is "getting ostracized at the company" and that she "wanted to kill herself." Then on February 26, Won hanged herself at her home.

The next day, So Yeon's mother Park Geon Rim phoned media outlet Insight and lamented, "My daughter killed herself because she was ostracized while she was working as an intern."

According to Park and Seoul Metropolitan Police Agecny (SMPA), around 8:30 a.m. on February 26, So Yeon was found hanged in the bedroom of her apartment unit in Gaepo-dong.

So Yeon's little brother, who lived with her, was the first to find the body and dial 119, but unfortunately, she had already passed on. The National Forensic Service (NFS) conducted an investigation of the site and arrived at the conclusion that Won indeed did commit suicide when they saw no signs of forced entry.

Won's family members were shocked to find that she had killed herself when she was known to be bright and cheery. However, they were even more shocked when they discovered that Won may have been the victim of bullying at the company.

In her Kakao messages to an acquaintance named Song on February 25, the day before she committed suicide, So Yeon wrote, "I'm being bullied. It must mean that I should just stop working at the company. This time they're all saying so. I'm so sick of it. I just want to kill myself. It must mean that I should just die. If I just disappear it will be over." Exactly 12 hours after she sent these telling messages, Won hanged herself.

Song told Insight, "I thought she was just saying it because she was having a hard time as an intern but I could tell that So Yeon was really going through a tough time [at the company]."

Currently, So Yeon's body has been transferred to a hospital. Her family revealed their intent to request for the police to conduct an official investigation.

Won's family determined, "If it's true that So Yeon committed suicide because she was ostracized at the company, then we must expose what really happened so that a tragedy like this won't occur again. We will try our best until the truth is revealed."

Unfortunately, Won left no will. However, her family suspect that there is important information in her cell phone which has a lock code on it.

An LF rep stated, "It hasn't even been a month since [So Yeon] started working, and because she was an intern, we never gave any difficult work. From what we've gathered so far, there were no issues with her life at the company, and we're currently looking carefully into the incident."

Meanwhile, a police officer related, "We haven't received any documents from prosecution. If there is no legal evidence, then investigating [the case] is a bit hard."