Kim Young-hoon, the 42 year old former head of Korean Transport Workers’ Union (KTWU), has been selected as the new chairman of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

Kim won the election by securing 376 votes of the total 723 votes that were cast (52 percent) at a regular KCTU convention meeting held at the 88 Gymnasium located in Seoul’s Gangseo district, Jan. 28. He defeated the other candidate Hur Young-ku, who secured only 275 votes (38 percent).

The newly-elected KCTU chairman argued during his campaign, “KCTU should engage in an all-out war to annul the labor law amendment bill, which was passed at dawn on Jan. 1.” He has also been pushing to fight the government’s oppressive actions against the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU, Jeon Gyo Jo), and Korean Government Employee’s Union (KGEU), and is pressing ahead for victory in the June 2 local elections.

Kim, who is the youngest chairman in KCTU’s history, announced that he plans to create an anti-Lee Myung-bak front with KCTU field members.

Previously, Kim was head of the Korean Railway Workers’ Union in 2004, and the first head of the Korean Transport Workers’ Union in 2007. He had emphasized, “A young chairman could bring a revitalization and new innovation to the weary KCTU.”

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