Concerns over elder abuse and wrongful dismissals have repeatedly surfaced at the Yeonpyeong Public Nursing Home in Ongjin County, Incheon, which is now in its fourth year of operation.
On the 26th, reporting by the Incheon Ilbo found that the Yeonpyeong facility, operated under contract by Social Welfare Corporation S, is under review by Incheon City's Elder Protection Agency over an assault complaint filed last November. The complaint alleges a care worker struck a resident in the face.
The facility has been found to have committed abuse on four separate occasions, including serving expired food and failing to report a resident who experienced stomach symptoms for a week. Investigators also found staff had left bedridden patients unattended while eating off-site and that Munhwa Nuri cultural benefit cards were issued and used without residents' consent.
S Corporation also drew controversy last year over employee dismissals. 「Incheon Ilbo, July 16, 2025, p.7 'Yeonpyeong Public Nursing Home Staff, Controversy Over Unfair Dismissal'」 The Central Employment and Labor Office referred the foundation's chair to prosecutors earlier this year for violating Article 26 of the Labor Standards Act (failure to give proper notice of dismissal).
Those employees later returned to work, but one indefinite-term employee received another termination notice last month.
Staff turnover has been high: about 10 social workers have left in less than three years. Two years ago, a social worker resigned, citing administrative problems such as a lack of budget for facility programs and the shifting of program costs from the foundation and its affiliates onto the facility.
This month, a bedridden patient suffered a fractured shoulder during a transfer. Internal sources say the accident occurred because a request for a specialized bathing bed went unaddressed for nearly a year.
Ongjin County said, \"Among the nursing homes the foundation operates—Yeonpyeong, Daecheong and Deokjeok—only Yeonpyeong has continued to raise issues, so we are focusing oversight there. We will issue recommendations or take administrative actions as needed and concentrate on improving residents' living conditions.\"
The foundation's chair responded that the abuse allegations were \"exaggerated claims born of internal conflict\" and said the Labor Standards Act violation related to notice of dismissal, adding that he paid the related wages out of his own pocket. He said, \"We have operated this public nursing home despite almost no profit and multiple failed recruitment announcements, and I regret that this controversy has damaged our reputation.\"
/Seulgi Jeong, reporter zaa@incheonilbo.com
