Chung Cheongrae Visits 599-Day Rooftop Protest Site, but Gumi City Remains Unresponsive

Chung Cheongrae Meets Protester on Rooftop, Promises Efforts for Employment Succession
Democratic Party Pressures Government and Ruling Party,
While Gumi Mayor Kim Jangho Faces Criticism for Inaction

The high-altitude protest of a worker who has been camped out on the rooftop for 599 days is now nearing its end. Democratic Party leader Chung Cheongrae personally visited Gumi Korea Optical Hightech to meet with dismissed workers demanding employment succession and promised to resolve the situation, but local administration took no action, creating a stark contrast.

Democratic Party leader Chung Cheongrae personally visited Gumi Korea Optical Hightech to meet with dismissed workers demanding employment succession and promised to resolve the situation, but local administration took no action, creating a stark contrast.

◆ Chung Cheongrae meets worker atop crane: "I will do my best"

On August 28, Chung visited the rooftop protest site at Korea Optical Hightech in Gumi and rode a crane to meet Park Junghye, the senior vice-chairperson of the Korea Optical Hightech branch of the Metal Workers' Union.

During the meeting, which lasted about 20 minutes, Chung, with tears in his eyes, said, "I can't promise a 100% perfect resolution, but I will do my utmost to resolve the employment succession issue. Please come down now."

Also present were Ahn Hoyoung, chairperson of the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee, Kim Jooyoung, secretary, Min Byungdeok, chairperson of the Euljiro Committee, and Hwang Myungseon, supreme council member. Chung added, "Our party will form a task force and summon the representative of Korea Nitto Optical to hearings, public forums, and the National Assembly audit."

◆ "Yoon Sukyeol administration neglects the issue"... Democratic Party pressures government and ruling party

Democratic Party spokesperson Park Haecheol stated in a commentary, "We will no longer ignore the cries of dismissed workers left unattended by the Yoon Sukyeol administration," and added, "We will take the lead in resolving the issue through labor-management dialogue and Korea-Japan mediation procedures."

In particular, the Democratic Party has defined this situation not as a simple corporate issue, but as a matter of responsibility for employment succession between Korean and Japanese companies, and is urging the ruling party and government to come up with solutions.

◆ Gumi Mayor Kim Jangho faces "no response" controversy

However, Gumi Mayor Kim Jangho, the local leader, was nowhere to be seen during this site visit.

Despite being the local head of the ruling party and directly responsible for corporate relocation and labor issues, Gumi City did not take any special measures or state its position in response to Chung Cheongrae's visit, prompting a cold response from local labor circles and civil society.

A representative of a Gumi civic group pointed out, "While the National Assembly and central political circles are taking action, the local administration is just standing by," and added, "Because Gumi City only follows the company's position, it has turned a blind eye to the reality that dismissed workers have been fighting on the rooftop for nearly 600 days."

At the end of this 600-day struggle, Senior Vice-Chairperson Park is expected to end the high-altitude protest and come down to the ground tomorrow (August 29), marking the 600th day.

Korea Optical Hightech is a subsidiary of Japan's Nitto Denko. After a fire completely destroyed the Gumi plant in October 2022, the company decided to close the plant in November of the same year and transferred production to the Pyeongtaek plant.

Subsequently, more than 200 workers in Gumi were notified of voluntary retirement, and seven of them refused and have continued to demand employment succession, leading to the ongoing protest.

"Three-party cooperation between Democratic Party, government, and local government is essential." Experts say this situation goes beyond a simple labor-management conflict within a single company. In the aftermath of restructuring by a multinational company headquartered in Japan, how to protect workers' right to livelihood is a responsibility shared by central politics, the government, and local governments.

Although the Democratic Party has expressed its willingness to resolve the issue politically, many point out that real progress will be difficult without institutional support from the government and the mediating role of local governments.

A labor policy expert commented, "The National Assembly must apply political pressure, the government must provide an institutional safety net, and local governments must ensure on-site implementation for a true resolution. This incident simultaneously demonstrates the absence of a Korean-style employment succession system and the evasion of responsibility by local governments."

He pointed out that this incident simultaneously demonstrates the absence of a Korean-style employment succession system and the local government's evasion of responsibility.