"Incheon Airport Security Screening Is Not a Job for Part-Timers... Fake News"

On the 22nd, after finishing a briefing on the regularization of security screening workers at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1, Koo Bon-hwan, CEO of Incheon International Airport Corporation, faced strong protests from employees while leaving the briefing room and heading to the elevator. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Min Jun-young] Incheon International Airport Corporation's decision to directly employ about 1,900 non-regular security screening personnel has sparked conflicts. In particular, some have mocked the situation, implying that "part-timers have hit the jackpot." Kim Won-hyung, co-chairman of the Security Screening Workers' Union, rebutted, saying, "This is not work that can be done as a part-time job."

In an interview on the 25th with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' Chairman Kim said, "We (security screening personnel) officially post job openings through recruitment sites, go through document screening, interviews, and 280 hours of training. After that, we must pass a certification evaluation conducted by the Seoul Airport Aviation Office to receive a certificate and perform security screening duties."

He added, "This is fake news. The open chat room is not created by security screening workers. As an open chat room, anyone can enter it," and lamented, "Due to many misunderstandings, security screening workers are currently being hurt."

He continued, "After seeing the articles and posts, we are very angry, asking 'Who on earth is damaging our own honor like this? Who could it be?'" and said, "We plan to request an investigation through lawyers."

Chairman Kim also stated that rumors about security screening personnel receiving an annual salary of 50 million won upon becoming regular employees are not true.

He explained, "They say we receive 50 million won, but in reality, we understand it is not that high. We think it is around 36 to 38 million won," and added, "The agreement at that time was to maintain similar levels for both subsidiary and directly employed personnel."

He expressed empathy for job seekers' dissatisfaction, saying, "We fully sympathize and understand the frustrations of job seekers," and continued, "We understand the position of job seekers, but since we are understaffed, we start work at 6 a.m. and cannot even go to the restroom or drink water for 5 to 6 hours until lunchtime to handle the influx of passengers. We have endured this hardship and made many efforts to help Incheon Airport grow."

He added, "Why wouldn't we understand the feelings of job seekers? We also worked as non-regular employees for a long time, and before that, we were also job seekers, so we fully understand those feelings," and concluded, "Looking at the current situation between the corporation and us, I think we should coexist and lead things in a better direction."