hankyoreh

An Internet cafe, made by laborers who are pushing ahead with the establishment of a trade union, was closed down at the request of the company, sparking controversy over ‘‘a new kind of labor-union oppression.’’

According to Daum Communications, it received a previously-filed complaint and written request from Korea Nitto Optical Inc. (KORENO) on June 8, demanding the shut-down of an Internet cafe (cafe.daum.net/korenolove) on its own portal site. The portal is home to the site of the KORENO Promotion Committee for a Democratic Labor Union, operated by those who had been seeking to set up the trade union with KORENO.

Prior to Daum’s receipt of the documents, KORENO had filed a lawsuit against the Internet cafe, citing libel. Daum, second largest portal site operator by sales in Korea, has its own policy, the so-called ‘‘cyber provisional disposition system.’’ This system states that the Internet portal can eliminate some or all of the content appearing on Internet cafes when related parties submit a written request, along with proof that a legal dispute exists surrounding the content.

However, KORENO’s action represents a rare case, in that a company has made a request to close down an Internet cafe related to a labor union. Doh Hak-seon, a Daum official, said, ‘‘As far as I know, this is the first case a cafe has been shut down in connection with the labor movement.’’

An official of KORENO said, on condition of anonymity, ‘‘Those who tried to establish the trade union have injured the company’s honor by putting false content on the Web site. We urged Daum to close down the cafe according to Daum’s rules.’’

In response, Roh Gyeong-jin, 29, the leader of the group which is trying to establish the trade union and the cafe’s operator, said, ‘‘The company has apparently given a lot of thought as to how to prevent us from making contact with the press. If it is possible to close down an Internet cafe just by filing a lawsuit, even before the court can deliver a verdict, all union-related cafes and ‘anti-’ cafes which are critical about companies will be subject to shut down.’’ For 191 days, the group held a sit-in in a tent placed in front of the KORENO headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Chang Yeo-gyeong of the Korean Progressive Network Center noted, ‘‘Firms holding a dominant position over workers can openly protect themselves, but they are diminishing freedom of expression by claiming libel. If an Internet portal arbitrarily shuts down an Internet cafe before a final ruling is made by the court, pre-censorship will be expanded.’’

The Internet cafe, opened by those who sought to establish a trade union with KORENO in October 2006, has 110 members. Initial steps toward organizing the union were taken with the help of the Daum cafe. Due to the actions taken by KORENO to close down the cafe, however, they are unable to use the data which they have so far accumulated via the site.

KORENO was established in 1999 with the investment of Japanese polarizing-film maker, Nitto Denko. Samsung Venture Investment Corp., formed by six affiliates of the Samsung group and including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Techwin and Samsung Heavy Industries, is the second-largest shareholder of KORENO with a stake of 12.22 percent. Over 90 percent of the polarizing film it produces is supplied to Samsung Electronics.

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