» Roh Jong-myeon, right, is welcomed by his colleagues after victory in a lawsuit against YTN at the Seoul Central District Court located in Seoul’s Seocho neighborhood.

A court has annulled the firing of six unionists of cable news network YTN, including union head Roh Jong-myeon .

In a suit raised by 20 YTN unionists including Roh, the Seoul Central District Court on Friday nullified the firing of the six unionists, calling the terminations an unjust punishment that went beyond the company’s free hand to instate disciplinary measures. The Court ruled that the suspensions and pay cuts handed out to the other 14 employees were within YTN’s right to punish.

The Court said that since the media enjoys constitutionally guaranteed media freedoms, it must maintain the according principle of impartiality. The court also acknowledged that opposing the appointment of an individual as president who supported a particular presidential candidate is an act of public interest to guard the political neutrality of the media. It said in consideration of the fact that there were procedural issues, including the fact that the stockholders meeting that seated former President Koo Bon-hong as president did not notify the union beforehand, the firings exceeded the company’s authority and were illegal.

The Court also said, however, that even though there were procedural issues, because the naming of Koo as president itself cannot be nullified, it could not view the other punishments besides the firings, including the suspensions and pay cuts, as exceeding the company’s authority. The court also addressed the unionists’ claims about “unfair retaliatory personnel moves” and said that while there were procedural issues, it could not conclude that the personnel moves were themselves unjust.

Roh and the rest of the YTN bureau of the National Union of Media Workers in opposing the nomination of Koo, who had served since July of the previous year as President Lee Myung-bak’s campaign press officer, blocked Koo from entering his office and conducted a sit-down strike in the president’s office. In Oct. of last year, Koo fired six of the unionists and punished 14 others for obstructing duties and refusing personnel orders.

YTN said that there was no change in its position that the unionists actions, which it claimed put the very existence of the company at risk, needed to be severely judged, and said it would appeal the Court’s decision next week. Union head Roh, meanwhile, said the company’s plan to appeal was a declaration that it had no intention to resolve the firing issue, and that he and the others that were fired would have to fight if the company did not accept their reinstatement.

The National Union of Media Workers said in an issued statement that the judgment reaffirms the current administration’s illegal actions to control the media, and that YTN needs to humbly accept the Court’s judgment and apologize for unjustly firing the unionists.

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