What does 갑질 (gapjil) mean? How the “A” at the top of a contract became a law and an English word

The contract from our editor's first job began: “○○ Co., Ltd. (hereinafter 갑) and ○○○ (hereinafter 을)…” Back then they had no idea those two syllables would one day produce a clause of labor law and a word in English.

1. Long-standing

   갑 and 을 in contracts

   According to Namuwiki, Korean contracts customarily name the parties 갑 (甲) and 을 (乙), the first two of the ten Heavenly Stems — roughly “Party A” and “Party B.” The party holding the upper hand usually became 갑. Add -질, a suffix that belittles an action, and you have 갑질.

2. Apr 2013

   A scandal on a plane

   Namuwiki points to an incident this month, in which a conglomerate executive assaulted a flight attendant on board, as what put the 갑-을 problem on the public agenda. The executive was removed from his post.

3. Dec 2014

   “Nut rage” and gapjil

   Asia Business Daily wrote that 갑질 emerged as a term during Korean Air's “nut rage” incident. Phrases like “workplace harassment” or “abuse of power” didn't capture it, so foreign media used the Korean word untranslated.

4. Oct 2017

   No. 3 neologism in the news

   A Korea Press Foundation BIG KINDS analysis of 2013–2017 news found 갑질 in 25,075 articles, third among neologisms after 스펙 (“specs”) and 멘붕 (“mental collapse”), Busan Ilbo reported.

5. Apr 2018

   The “water rage” and an English gloss

   When an executive at the same airline faced the “water rage” controversy, The Korea Times reported police would investigate any case of gapjil — “bullying the weak in a hierarchical structure” — no matter who was involved. YTN noted the word had made The New York Times.

6. Jul 16, 2019

   갑질 becomes law

   The workplace-harassment ban in the amended Labor Standards Act took effect. Aju Business Daily headlined its story that day “This is gapjil too.” Using a superior position or relationship to cause suffering beyond the appropriate scope of work was now prohibited.

• 퇴근 10분 전에 내일 아침까지 보고서 달라는 건 갑질 아닌가요Asking for a report by tomorrow morning, ten minutes before we clock out — isn't that 갑질?Anonymous office-worker forum
• 손님이라고 직원한테 반말하는 거, 그게 갑질이야Talking down to staff because you're the customer — that's 갑질.To a friend, leaving a restaurant
• 하청업체에 단가 후려치기는 전형적인 갑질이다Squeezing a subcontractor's prices is textbook 갑질.A line from a business article
• '을'인 줄 알았던 내가 알바생한테는 '갑'이었더라고I thought I was the 을, but to the part-timer, I was the 갑.An office worker having a moment

What the timeline shows is two dry syllables from a contract becoming society's vocabulary through a handful of scandals: 25,000 news articles, “gapjil” in English-language papers and foreign media, and a clause of law. Few neologisms have done that much heavy lifting. 갑질 is often paired with 꼰대 (an overbearing know-it-all elder), but they aren't the same: 꼰대 is about attitude, 갑질 about how power is used. Lean the other way, from the 을 side toward doing as little as possible, and you get 월급루팡 (“salary thief”).

So: 갑질 started as the 갑 at the top of a contract and, through scandals and headlines, became “gapjil” in English and a clause of labor law. Our editor still has that first contract. Reading it again, there was nothing unfair to the 을. A relief. If you have a sharper definition, add it to the 갑질 entry in the dictionary.