Geoje Mayor Byeon Gwang-yong's Solo Protest Against Fair Trade Commission Over Daewoo Shipbuilding Sale

Byeon Gwang-yong, Mayor of Geoje, holding a solo protest in front of the Fair Trade Commission.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Ju-cheol In] On the 17th, Byeon Gwang-yong, mayor of Geoje City, held a solo protest in front of the Fair Trade Commission in Sejong City, urging the withdrawal of the Daewoo Shipbuilding sale, a reexamination from the starting point, and a decision to disallow the corporate merger review.

The solo protest was to convey the earnest wishes of Geoje citizens opposing the sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

The sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding has been under corporate merger review domestically and internationally since the Korea Development Bank announced the sale plan in January 2019. The EU has raised the issue of LNG ship monopoly as a condition for approving the merger with Hyundai Heavy Industries during the review process.

Mayor Byeon pointed out, “The LNG ship market share restriction imposed by the EU as a condition for merger approval requires business downsizing, split sales, or transfer of technology overseas, which will clearly result in weakening the competitiveness of the domestic shipbuilding industry and the status of Korean shipbuilding.”

He urged, “Please reconsider the current status and prospects of the global ship market and the possibility of Daewoo Shipbuilding’s business normalization, withdraw the sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding, and the Fair Trade Commission should take the lead in disallowing the corporate merger review, including a reexamination from the starting point.”

He also condemned, “The sale through conditional approval will inevitably cause stagnation in numerous cooperating companies and equipment suppliers related to Daewoo Shipbuilding in Gyeongnam, including Geoje, reproducing both employment and industrial crises.”

Mayor Byeon Gwang-yong stated, “The voice I raise today is the voice of 250,000 Geoje citizens and our unignorable cry, and it is also my duty that must be fulfilled,” adding, “I will take fairness, justice, respect, and trust seriously and move forward unwaveringly together with the citizens.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Byeon Gwang-yong also expressed his official stance opposing the sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering at a press conference last January.