[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Cho and Byeongdon Yoo] Yoon Hee-geun, the nominee for Commissioner of the National Police Agency, headed to Geoje, Gyeongnam on the 19th to directly inspect the strike site of subcontractor labor unions at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME). This came just one day after President Yoon Suk-yeol stated, "Illegal situations in industrial sites must come to an end." There is growing analysis that the deployment of public authority to the illegal strike site at DSME is entering the 'countdown' phase.
On the same day, around 11 a.m., nominee Yoon flew from the Noryangjin Helipad in Yongsan, Seoul with Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, to Geoje, Gyeongnam. He is scheduled to survey the situation at the DSME site and discuss specific countermeasures. Kim Byung-soo, Commissioner of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, also attended to report on the subcontractor labor union’s occupation of the shipyard dock at DSME.
Nominee Yoon’s visit follows President Yoon’s directive during a luncheon meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo the previous day, where he said, "Illegal situations in industrial sites must come to an end," instructing relevant ministers to take active measures. Subsequently, nominee Yoon attended a meeting with ministers from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Employment and Labor, and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to discuss the DSME situation. It is reported that the necessity of strict response to illegal acts was emphasized at this meeting.
In this series of developments, many view nominee Yoon’s direct on-site inspection as a prelude to the deployment of public authority. Some believe that immediate deployment is unlikely since negotiations are ongoing, but the dominant view is that public authority may be exercised given President Yoon’s emphasis on ending illegal situations.
If public authority is deployed, a large number of police personnel are expected to be mobilized. Currently, about 120 union members of the Metal Workers’ Union Geoje-Tongyeong-Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontractors Branch are forming a blockade at the site. Vice Chairman Yoo Choi-an is conducting a sit-in protest by entering a 1㎥ steel structure and welding the entrance shut in a 'prison struggle' style. Analysts say that a considerable police force will be necessary to resolve the protest without any accidents.
The labor side is strengthening its forces in response. On the upcoming weekend, the 23rd, about 40 civic groups including the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) will head to the strike site with a 'Hope Bus.' The DSME Hope Bus is reportedly led by Kim Jin-sook, a guiding committee member, and Father Moon Jeong-hyun as representative proposers. Hwang Cheol-woo, executive director of the Hope Bus, said, "Civil society cannot ignore the desperate reality of subcontracted workers trapped in a steel prison less than one pyeong (3.3 square meters) who cry out to live with dignity."
The Hope Bus first appeared 11 years ago during the Hanjin Heavy Industries incident in Yeongdo-gu, Busan. Kim Jin-sook, a guiding committee member of the Busan branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and a former dismissed worker of the predecessor shipbuilding company, opposed the layoffs at Hanjin Heavy Industries and began a long-term high-altitude protest atop a crane at the Yeongdo shipyard in January 2011. From June of the same year, civil society operated the 'Hope Bus' to support Kim during her high-altitude protest. Between June and October, five Hope Bus events were held, with about 35,000 participants nationwide.
As both sides escalate their confrontation, the turning point of this incident is expected to be the 23rd when the Hope Bus gathers. If public authority is deployed, physical clashes are inevitable.
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