By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
The regional offices of the Korean Government Employees' Union (KGEU) have been forced to shut down as part of the Lee Myung-bak administration's clampdown on unionized civil servants.
"Fifty-nine regional offices of the KGEU will be required to close. Defying our instructions will be met with strict punishment," an official with the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said Sunday.
The KGEU has been labeled as an illegitimate entity by the Lee administration after it defied repeated government orders to dismiss fired civil workers from the union in September.
Membership fees for the KGEU have been collected through deductions from paychecks that have been automatically directed toward the organization, but the ministry will put an end to such services. Currently, there are around 50,200 members, and the total membership fees amount to 700 million won.