Chairman Hur Young-in's Trial on "Union Withdrawal Encouragement": Prosecution and Defense Clash Over Timing and Purpose of Evidence

Prosecution: "Used to Identify Non-Union Members"
vs.
SPC: "Cannot Be Used as Mere Figures"

During the trial of Huh Youngin, Chairman of SPC Group, who has been prosecuted on charges of encouraging union members affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) to withdraw, the prosecution and the defense presented differing perspectives regarding the timing and intended use of key evidence submitted by the prosecution.

Huh Youngin, Chairman of SPC. Photo by Yonhap News

On May 27, the 32nd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Ryu Kyungjin) held a hearing for Huh and other former and current SPC executives and employees, indicted on charges of violating the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, and conducted witness questioning of Jeong, Head of Labor Affairs at PB Partners (Executive Director).

The main points of contention at the trial were the nature of the 'Comprehensive Ledger' and 'Composition Ratio (Organization Rate)' documents, as well as whether former CEO Hwang Jaebok had issued instructions. The prosecution argued that from around July to August 2019, the management had already identified the list of non-members and subsequently created the Comprehensive Ledger, a document tracking union member changes, to systematically support the expansion of the PB Union (affiliated with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions).

In contrast, the defense presented evidence showing that the Comprehensive Ledger was created on November 6, 2019. Jeong, the former Executive Director, also testified, "Although similar data existed previously, it was around November that I was instructed to present the payroll deduction details in a table format," and stated that such a document did not exist during the period of union recruitment activities by the PB Union in July–August of that year, as claimed by the prosecution.

The two sides also disagreed on the meaning of the composition ratio in the Comprehensive Ledger. The prosecution contended that the data, which included union composition ratios by business unit, was used to distinguish non-members in order for the PB Union to achieve majority union status. They particularly highlighted that Jeong had called business unit managers to encourage them to support PB Union activities, arguing that this constituted systematic involvement based on such data.

However, the defense countered that the documents in question could not have been used to distinguish non-members. They argued that the Comprehensive Ledger and the composition ratio materials only contained numbers and percentages, without any information identifying which individuals at which locations were non-members. Jeong also responded, "This data was simply compiled to determine which union held a majority, but it was not usable for union recruitment activities on the ground, which require direct outreach."

There was also disagreement over how the effort to prompt KCTU union members to withdraw, which began around February 2021, was initiated. The prosecution asserted that former CEO Hwang, angered by a KCTU union protest in front of 'Passion5' in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, said, "We can no longer go along with the KCTU," and interpreted this as an order to Jeong to begin withdrawal efforts.

However, in response to the defense's questioning, Jeong denied that Hwang's remarks at the time constituted an instruction to initiate the withdrawal campaign. He testified, "I simply took it as the usual reaction of a superior upset over damage to the brand value, and did not regard it as a serious directive to begin withdrawal efforts." He further explained, "The withdrawal efforts began when the PB Union chairman approached me first, expressing a strong intention and requesting accommodations such as time off. All I did was ask business unit managers for cooperation in order to prevent conflicts between unions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.