Kim Dong-myeong "Search and Seizure Has Intent... To Isolate the Union"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Kim Dong-myeong, chairman of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), raised his voice regarding the government's issue with the 'monthly fees,' stating, "It is money that clearly involves the construction companies using labor to further their own interests," making it difficult to simply define it as illegal funds. He analyzed the recent raids as "an attempt to isolate the labor unions."

On the 20th, Chairman Kim said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that "While the cause of the monthly fees partly stems from 'union demands,' construction companies themselves give these fees to facilitate shortening construction periods or long working hours."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the 'Illegal Activities Survey at Construction Sites' announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport the previous day, 118 construction companies paid 168.6 billion KRW to unions as monthly fees over the past three years. Monthly fees are money that construction companies customarily pay tower crane operators separately from their salaries, ranging from 5 million to 10 million KRW per month.

Chairman Kim emphasized, "Some of it is illegal, but some are legal or customary, so it is difficult to define this money simply as illegal funds," adding, "While the union may have exerted pressure for its own interests, the construction companies themselves clearly used labor to further their own benefits."

Regarding the recent police raids on the offices of the FKTU and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) construction unions, he said, "If there are criminal suspicions and corruption, investigating and punishing them is not something to criticize, but judging from various circumstances, I think there is another intention," and claimed, "To push labor reform more decisively and isolate unions from the public, they are excessively attacking them as corrupt and corrupt groups, using rough methods."

He also criticized the National Intelligence Service's recent raid related to allegations of violating the National Security Act by KCTU officials, saying, "This is a very serious issue. It can send a very wrong signal and implant a distorted image of the KCTU," adding, "If there are violations of the National Security Act, the violators should be accurately punished, so why attack the KCTU?"

He continued, "Every group has individuals who deviate from norms. For example, if someone in the Blue House commits corruption, should the entire Blue House be condemned? Of course, such phenomena can occur to some extent, but this is excessive," he said.

In response to the host's question about whether the all-out raids are related to the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's push for a 'labor union accounting disclosure system,' he analyzed, "I don't necessarily think it's just because of that," adding, "Rather, it is a means to push through planned labor reforms, combined with confidence from some public and media support, making it a very meticulously planned scenario."