"Reinstate Kim Jin-sook, Unfairly Laid Off 35 Years Ago" 814 Citizens Join One-day Hunger Strike

[경향신문]

“The Weekend Candlelight Demonstration at Gwanghwamun Square Will Abide by Disease Prevention Measures” On January 25, Organizers of Remember the Hope Bus, currently on a hunger strike in front of Cheongwadae calling for the reinstatement of Kim Jin-sook--a senior member of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions Busan chapter and a laid-off worker from Hanjin Heavy Industries--held a press conference and announced plans to organize a candlelight demonstration, while abiding by the government’s disease prevention measures, at Gwanghwamun Square on January 30. Kang Yoon-joong

On January 25, over 800 citizens joined in solidarity and went on a hunger strike calling for Hanjin Heavy Industries to reinstate Kim Jin-sook (61), a senior member of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions’ Busan chapter, whom the company laid off 35 years ago. This day, Organizers of Remember the Hope Bus, a group of citizens demanding the reinstatement of Kim, announced, “Today, 814 people will join the hunger strike (from their individual locations)” and added “On the coming January 30, over 3,500 citizens will demand the reinstatement of Kim and a ban on lay offs holding candles in front of the Democratic Party offices nationwide and Gwanghwamun Square.”

The poet Song Kyung-dong, Father Seo Yeong-seop and Sung Mi-sun, co-chair of the Green Party’s steering committee, who have been engaging in a hunger strike in front of the Cheongwadae fountain for 35 days as of this day, were present at a press conference announcing the latest hunger strike. These figures launched the hunger strike on December 22, 2020 calling for the company to reinstate Kim before the year end, when Kim reaches retirement age. However, Hanjin failed to reinstate Kim by the end of last year, and on December 30, Kim took her struggle to the streets, marching from Busan to Cheongwadae. The poet, Song said, “It is a simple matter. All it takes is for the president and the government to step up and acknowledge and apologize for the unfair lay-off by state violence and for the state-run bank, the Korea Development Bank to resolve the problem,” and called for Kim’s reinstatement.

Kim Jin-sook was taken to the police anti-Communist office and tortured after she distributed flyers exposing the company union and poor labor conditions in February 1986, when she was a sixth-year welder at Daehan Shipbuilding Company (currently Hanjin Heavy Industries). In July that year, she was fired for “absence without leave” after protesting an unfair personnel decision. A committee that reviewed compensation and rehabilitation of pro-democracy activists recommended the company to reinstate Kim on two occasions, but the company has refused to heed the advice. This day marked the 23rd day of Kim’s march and she is expected to arrive at Cheongwadae on March 7.