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Hanwha ramps up efforts to mend ties with Lee administration
Kim Hyung-soo, third from left, leader of subcontracted workers at shipyards in South Gyeongsang Province, waves the Korean Metal Workers' Union's flag as he comes down from a 30-meter steel tower near Hanwha Group's headquarters in Seoul, Thursday, 97 days after beginning a sit-in to protest Hanwha Ocean. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Park Jae-hyuk
Conglomerate settles labor disputes, hires Lee's former adviser
Hanwha Group is stepping up efforts to mend ties with the Lee Jae Myung administration, settling yearslong disputes with subcontracted workers at its shipyard and appointing a national security policy consultant from Lee's election campaign as an executive at the group's defense unit.
The moves come after the ruling party criticized Hanwha Group's recent actions against the Lee administration's policy agenda.
Before Lee’s inauguration on June 4, Hanwha Ocean rejected a request from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) to withdraw a lawsuit seeking 47 billion won ($34 million) in compensation for losses incurred during a 50-day strike by subcontracted shipyard workers in 2022. Hanwha Ocean CEO Kim Hee-cheul reportedly cited the possibility of breaching shareholders’ trust when Lee asked him in February to find ways to reconcile with workers.
Along with the labor dispute, Hanwha Aerospace also faced Lee's criticism in April, as its plan for a large-scale rights offering sharply dragged down its stock price, triggering an uproar from retail shareholders.
Lee, who has been pursuing stock market revitalization as one of his main policy goals, denounced the defense firm's capital increase plan as a trick to lower taxes on the Hanwha chairman’s three sons as they inherit their father’s shares.
Just two weeks after Lee’s election win, however, Hanwha is now striving to court the new administration, with Hanwha Ocean saying it is considering dropping the lawsuit to comply with its principle of coexistence and cooperation.
As the company shifted gears, employers of subcontracted workers at the shipyard agreed to increase wages, prompting the leader of unionized subcontracted workers to come down from a 30-meter steel tower near Hanwha Group’s Seoul headquarters Thursday, 97 days after beginning a sit-in to protest Hanwha Ocean.
Several DPK lawmakers joined a follow-up press conference the same day, where workers called for a revision to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act to enable subcontracted workers to negotiate directly with the clients of their employers and to prohibit management from seeking compensation for damages incurred during illegal strikes. The ruling party is pushing ahead with the revision, which was rejected by the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration.
“We hope the spirit of coexistence and cooperation continues at Hanwha,” the lawmakers said in a statement.
Former Defense Minister Suh Wook speaks during a conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, March 5. Newsis
On June 16, former Defense Minister Suh Wook began working for Hanwha Aerospace as a president-level adviser, becoming the first retired defense minister to join a privately owned defense company. He previously worked for the DPK's national defense and security policy advisory group during the presidential campaign. He served as defense minister from 2020 to 2022 under the liberal Moon Jae-in administration.
His appointment is seen as another attempt to curry favor with the Lee administration, although Hanwha Aerospace said he will help with exports.
“Suh has extensive experience of overseeing government policies for defense exports, which is necessary for our expansion in Europe, the Middle East and the United States,” a company official said.
The conglomerate also said Friday that Hanwha Life Insurance Vice Chairman and CEO Yeo Seung-joo will also transfer to Hanwha Group to oversee the group’s overall businesses. In 2020, when Lee was governor of Gyeonggi Province, he sent a thank-you letter to Yeo for the insurer’s provision of its training center to accommodate COVID-19 patients. The two also met in person that year.
“You fulfilled your social responsibility and helped our citizens overcome the crisis,” Lee wrote in the letter.