Minister Lee Jeong-sik Visits Daewoo Shipbuilding Strike Site... Final Persuasion Attempt

President Yoon: "Waited Enough"
Tension Rises Over Possible Use of Public Authority
Minister Lee Jeong-sik Visits Strike Site in Afternoon
Meeting Labor and Management Before Physical Clash

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the afternoon of the 19th, Lee Jeong-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor, will visit the strike site of the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) subcontractor union to hold talks with both the primary and subcontractor labor and management. Given President Yoon Seok-yeol's statement that "we have waited long enough," this is interpreted as a final persuasion effort before the deployment of public authority.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Minister Lee will visit the sit-in site at the Okpo Shipyard of DSME in Geoje, Gyeongnam, in the afternoon and meet separately with the primary and subcontractor labor and management. The ministry explained, "We plan to urge efforts to resolve the issue through dialogue and compromise between the parties involved, as well as restraint from illegal activities."

Following President Yoon Seok-yeol and the ministers of Strategy and Finance, Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Trade, Industry and Energy, and Employment and Labor defining the DSME subcontractor union strike as illegal activities the day before, there is analysis that the deployment of public authority is entering the final countdown.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo said in a joint statement from related ministries, "Outdated violence and illegal methods of struggle no longer receive support from the general public or the majority of fellow workers," adding, "If the illegal occupation and sit-in continue, the government will have no choice but to respond strictly according to law and principles."

President Yoon also said on his way to work that morning, "In industrial sites and labor-management relations, illegal acts must not be neglected or tolerated," and added, "I think both the public and the government have waited long enough."

As President Yoon mentioned the DSME issue again, Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and Police Chief nominee Yoon Hee-geun are also scheduled to visit Geoje, Gyeongnam by helicopter that day to inspect the situation on site.

Minister Lee, who comes from the Korean Federation of Trade Unions (KCTU), appears to have launched a final persuasion effort to resolve the conflict before the deployment of public authority. Given the strong opposition from the labor sector, if the government takes the extreme step of deploying public authority, physical clashes could cause significant damage.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) emphasized, "The government is shifting all responsibility onto the subcontractor workers while shirking its own responsibility, threatening to end the struggle and forcing submission," adding, "If this leads to a catastrophe, it will result in a massive struggle by workers and the public against the Yoon Seok-yeol administration."

Six members of the DSME subcontractor union are currently staging a sit-in atop a structure over 10 meters high connected by a narrow staircase. In particular, Vice Chairman Yoo Choi-an has built a steel structure measuring 1 meter in width, length, and height, entered inside it, and is conducting the sit-in with the entrance welded shut with iron bars.