"Unfair Dismissal of Wife, My Disciplinary Action Should Be Revoked"... Public Transport Union Executive Stages High-Altitude Protest

Hanging from the Exterior Wall of Kyounghyang Shinmun Building in Protest
Conflict with the Union Since 2023... Public Transport Union Says "Disciplinary Action Unrelated to Wife's Case"

An executive from the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union (KPTU) is staging a high-altitude protest by hanging from the exterior wall of a building in central Seoul, demanding the resolution of what he claims is the unfair dismissal of his wife and his own disciplinary action.

A public transportation union official staged a high-altitude protest hanging from the 10th floor. Yonhap News Agency

According to the police and labor organizations on September 6, Yang Kyuseo, Director of Organization at the Public Transport Union, has been conducting the protest since 5:30 a.m. that day, hanging with a rope from the exterior wall of the Kyounghyang Shinmun building in Jeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, where the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) office is located.

At the scene, the fire department has deployed an aerial ladder truck and installed an air mat on the ground, while the police are securing the perimeter. Other media reports indicate that Yang secured his rope to the upper floors of the building and unfurled a banner at around the height of the 8th or 9th floor.

Yang claims that his wife, Ham Gyenam, former Director of Organization at the Seoul branch of the Healthcare Solidarity headquarters of the union, was unfairly dismissed after experiencing workplace harassment and an industrial accident. He says he was severely disciplined because he raised these issues.

According to Ham’s side, she reported workplace harassment to the Seoul branch of the Healthcare Solidarity headquarters in January 2023 and also filed complaints with the Ministry of Employment and Labor in June of the same year and with the KCTU in July. The Healthcare Solidarity headquarters determined in March 2023 that the case did not constitute workplace harassment. In December of that year, Ham was expelled from union membership and in November 2024 received a notice of dismissal.

Yang further claims that, due to his attempts to address his wife’s case, he received a total of 16 months of suspension from the union: four months in 2023, six months in 2024, and an additional six months this year. The current suspension is reportedly set to last until November this year.

This is not the first time Yang has staged such a protest against the union. He previously carried out a 46-day rooftop protest at the union building between July and August 2023 and staged another protest for the same issue on the 5th and 6th of last month.

This time, Ham is also conducting a hunger strike on the first floor of the Kyounghyang Shinmun building. The couple is demanding that the KCTU establish an independent fact-finding committee to reinvestigate the process surrounding the alleged workplace harassment, disciplinary action, and dismissal. They also insist that external experts participate to ensure the independence of the investigation.

The Public Transport Union disputes Yang’s claims. According to a union official, the allegations regarding workplace harassment and unfair dismissal raised by Ham have already been reviewed by the Central Labor Relations Commission and the courts, which found no wrongdoing. The official also stated that Yang’s disciplinary action resulted from separate reasons not connected to his raising of his wife’s case.

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