/ Captured from Facebook



By You Soo-sun



A private hospital came under fire after its nurses claimed they were forced to put on a sexually suggestive dance performance at a company event.

Nurses at the Sacred Heart Hospital of Hallym University claimed they were forced to dance in front of around 1,000 co-workers and hospital officials during an annual sports competition in October.

During the performance, they were allegedly forced to wear cleavage-revealing tops and short pants.

The hospital is run by the Il-song Foundation, which owns three universities and seven hospitals across the country.

A surge of allegations have been made against some of its branches on social media and to a nonprofit legal consultation group.

"Those forced to dance are usually the newly-hired nurses, who are unable to refuse such orders. We are forced to dance in front of high-ranking officials of the firm who sit side-by-side at a long table," one nurse wrote on social media, Friday.

It was also mentioned they were ordered to make sexually suggestive facial expressions. "During practice, managers at the Nursing Department would give instructions on making seductive gestures and facial expressions," one nurse wrote.

The practices took place for a month prior to the event, after working hours, they said.

This not only happens during the annual sports event, but also year-round for hospital events supposedly meant to "comfort" patients.

"We had to lie down on the floor and spread our legs in front of patients and their guardians," one claimed.

"Some nurses even cried to express their extreme humiliation, but officials would always brush this off, saying they are making a big deal out of something everyone does. It is devastating to hear the hospital officials claimed they did not know about the situation after this finally got out," another wrote.

A representative of the foundation reportedly said it did not impose such behavior.

The foundation also claimed an internal investigation revealed the situation arose from a competitive setting where higher-ranking nurses just tried to put on a good show, and said it would come up with measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.