Pyeongtaek mayor roots for Ssangyong Motor's Tivoli

Pyeongtaek Mayor Kong Jae-kwang holds a placard that reads “Ssangyong Motor has launched the Tivoli. Pyeongtaek citizens offer support for its success,” at the Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap

By Park Jin-hai

Pyeongtaek Mayor Kong Jae-kwang began a street campaign to promote Ssangyong Motor’s new compact SUV Tivoli Monday.

In his effort to drum up support from the public, Mayor Kong, together with Pyeongtaek City Council Chairman Kim In-sik, held a two-hour promotion, holding a placard that read, “Ssangyong Motor launched Tivoli. Pyeongtaek citizens support its success,” at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul.

“With the 153 workers dismissed in 2009 who couldn’t come back to the company, and the company still in red, the success of Tivoli is directly linked to the livelihood of workers at Ssangyong’s plant in Pyeongtaek,” said a spokesman for the mayor.

“The Gwanghwamun promotion is intended for the general public, asking for their interest in the Tivoli. He will also start promotional activities targeting the central and local governments, demanding that they buy Trivoli as official vehicles,” he added.

He plans to send letters to ministers and vice ministers asking for their support. He will also have promotional tours across the nation until Feb. 13.

Ssangyong Motor laid off 2,646 workers, citing financial difficulties, in 2009. Some 450 of those workers were eventually rehired, but 153 have not yet been brought back.

Even prior to the Jan. 13 official launch, Tivoli made headlines when K-pop singer Lee Hyo-ri hinted that she was willing to be a model for the Tivoli free of charge if the car’s sales help the company rehire the dismissed workers.