By Yi Whan-woo
A female labor activist who staged a long sit-in protest in a giant crane over a shipbuilder’s layoffs last year was sentenced to an 18-month jail term suspended for three years.
The Busan District Court said Kim Jin-sook, 51, a member of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), conducted a one-woman protest at the 35-meter point of a tower crane at Hajin Heavy Industry Industries and Construction (HHIC) in the Yeongdo shipyard in Busan for 309 days from Jan. 6, 2011.
She was prosecuted for obstructing the shipbuilder’s operations while holding her sit-in on the crane. “The accused caused the company to suffer a serious obstruction of business. She stirred up chaos in the region and brought heavy damage to HHIC and also disobeyed the court’s order to withdraw,” a presiding judge said in a ruling.
She staged a sit-in protest after the shipbuilder implemented a plan to lay off 400 workers.
The employees waged a massive strike, coupled with a series of protests by militant union members. The conflict lasted until labor and management reached an agreement on Nov. 10, 2011, on which Kim ended her protest.
She said she will decide whether to appeal the court’s decision. “It’s regretful that they do not consider why I had to stay on the crane, and only focus on the fact that I violated the law,” she said.