Incheon Airport to make 1,900 security workers regular employees

By Bahk Eun-ji

Incheon International Airport Corporation said Monday that it has decided to directly hire some 1,900 irregular employees that perform security screening work.

Incheon International Airport /Korea Times file

The move came almost three years after President Moon Jae-in visited the company to advocate for zero irregular jobs in the public sector. The airport corporation was Moon's first destination to get across his message.

This leaves the airport with another 7,642 irregular workers who will also receive regular positions by the end of this year.

The airport initially planned to hire the security screening personnel as full-time employees of its subsidiary company first, and then directly hire them after the revision of the relevant law. As aviation and real estate leasing are its main businesses, it was impossible to hire special security personnel who can carry weapons under the security business law.

However, the security workers have been in conflict with the airport since Moon's visit in 2017 as the head of the airport operator had aimed to comply with Moon's wish to give permanent positions to all of the operator's nearly 10,000 irregular employees.

Against this backdrop, the airport decided to hire them directly as security police after legal review. Security police are police officers employed by a governmental agency or corporation, and law enforcement gives them full police power so that they carry weapons if necessary.

The Government Complex in Sejong and the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water) also employed special security guards who had previously been irregular workers and hired them as security police.

To this end, the airport will select a recruitment agency by August, and announce the official recruitment in September. After that, the applications will be screened in October, written tests and interviews will be conducted in November, and the process will be completed in December.

In particular, the airport said it is considering taking protective measures for existing workers who joined the company after knowing in advance that they would be converted to full-time employees, to ensure that the airport does not undermine the fairness of recruitment.