Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Ex-Ssangyong workers end rally
Former Ssangyong Motor workers lay on the ground in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, before riot police, Monday. They attempted to move toward Cheong Wa Dae Sunday but police stopped their “prostrating rally,” launched last month to call for the reinstatement of laid off workers. / Yonhap
By Kim Rahn
By Kim Rahn
Former Ssangyong Motor workers called for a resolution by Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, Monday, to reinstate workers laid off by Ssangyong in 2009 due to financial difficulty.
Some 30 former Ssangyong Motor workers and about 20 members of supporting civic groups on Monday ended a rally which was launched on Jan. 7 to call for talks with management to address their reinstatement.
They attempted to move to a community center near Cheong Wa Dae, but were stopped in Gwanghwamun by riot police. After an overnight confrontation with police, the protesters dispersed voluntarily.
The incident came ahead of Mahindra’s visit to Korea today for a launch event of the company’s new Tivoli model. Mahindra Group is Ssangyong’s largest shareholder.
Duing the six-day rally from an Ssangyong Motor repair shop in Guro in southwestern Seoul, they prostrated themselves every 10 steps.
“We’ve protested against the layoffs for six years. During that time, 26 colleagues died, and two have been staging a rally atop a 70-meter chimney since Dec. 13,” Kim Deuk-jung, head of Ssangyong Motor union, said during a press conference in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul.
“The prostrating rally is a protest against the government’s easing of rules for layoffs and extending of the contract period for non-regular workers. We’ll try for the reinstatement despite suppression from businesses and the government.”
They started the protest on Jan. 7 and passed by the National Assembly, the Supreme Court and the Embassy of India in Seoul, to call for leniency from Mahindra, an Indian business group.
On their scheduled last day of protest on Sunday, they first planned to continue the rally in front of the Deoksu Palace in the morning and close it in front of a community center next to Cheong Wa Dae in the evening. But police stopped them at a park near Gwanghwamun Square at around 4 p.m.
Police said their prostrating at the crosswalk at the Sejongno intersection was “illegal occupation” of roads. Their prostrating on the crosswalk actually caused a traffic jam there.
“They initially said they would do the prostrating by the Government Complex Seoul and then would walk to the community center,” a police official said. “We stopped them to minimize inconvenience to citizens.”
Demanding police allow them to continue, the protestors kept prostrated at the park overnight in the icy cold. A woman protestor suffered from paralysis and difficulty breathing and was moved to a hospital at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. She has since recovered.
Then they decided to close the rally around noon.
It was the second prostrating rally by former Ssangyong Motor employees, with the first one taking place from Dec. 22 to 26. They were stopped by police at Gwanghwamun Square as well.
They plan to launch a third rally in several weeks.