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By Choi Jae-bong, literature correspondent

“The strike at Ssangyong Motor was another ‘The Crucible’ for Korean society. I thought if we didn’t learn the truth of what happened and set it right, there was no hope for our society. It seemed if things continued this way, the nation would be ruined. I think this situation must be resolved in a proper direction so that my children can feel at ease at the companies where they’re employed.”

Gong Ji-young, the author of “The Crucible,” has announced a new book, “Musical Chairs” (Humanist Books), which deals with the layoff of 2,646 Ssangyong workers, the 77-day strike, the police crackdown, and the 22 deaths of workers and family members that followed. “The Crucible” was a groundbreaking book about a case of sexual abuse of disabled children in South Korea. In 2011, it was adapted into a film that drew millions of viewers and led to the prosecution of the perpetrators.

“Musical Chairs” is a game in which participants circle around a set of chairs one fewer than the number of participants. When the signal is given, the players must race to sit in one of the chairs to stay in the game.

At a press conference to mark the publication of the book held at a restaurant in downtown Seoul on August 6, Gong said, “When I came to know the whole story of the Ssangyong situation, the two things that came to mind were ‘ghost’ and ’musical chairs.‘”

She explained, “I say ‘ghost’ because since the true nature of capital - the main agent of the layoffs - is obscure, you got the feeling like they were fighting against a ghost, and ‘musical chairs’ because it seemed to symbolize the cruel tendency of capital to divide the workers into those stay in their places and those that are forced out.”

“Musical Chairs” begins with a scene of the writer getting news that a brother and sister had become orphans after the wife of one of the laid-off Ssangyong workers kills herself and the worker dies soon after.

Gong reconstructed the whole story behind the Ssangyong strike based on testimony from psychiatrist Jeong Hye-sin, who ran a counseling center for Ssangyong’s laid-off laborers and their families; former Ssangyong union planning director Lee Chang-geun; poet Song Gyeong-dong and labor experts, as well as on newspaper and broadcast reports.

In so doing, she exposes the issues lurking at the heart of situation. Gong said, “Like with ‘The Crucible,’ I showed that Korean society’s cartel of silence made up of big accounting firms, courts and the prosecutors was lurking in the background of the Ssangyong situation, too.”

She claimed, “In particular, the big accounting firms astronomically boosted Ssangyong’s debt ratio by absurdly inflating the company’s impairment losses, and in so doing gave justification for the mass layoff.”

Impairment losses result from a fixed asset’s depreciation in value over time. According to the book, the cumulative amount of the impairment losses of Ssangyong Motor’s buildings skyrocketed from about 2.3 billion won in 2007 to about 200 billion won (about US$2 million to $17.8 million) in 2008.

During the same time, the impairment losses of the company’s other structures jumped from 86 million won to 37 billion won, and the impairment losses of mechanical equipment jumped from 800 million won to 10 billion won.

Raising her voice, Gong said, “The big accounting firms are living comfortably, paid for by the deaths of the workers... If they say I’m wrong, I hope they sue me so we can uncover the truth in a court of law.”

In the middle of ‘Musical Chairs’ are scenes of the workers’ strike and the brutal crackdown led by hired muscle.

With urgency, Gong relays the cruel, inhuman situation of the time, with private security men hired for 230,000 won (US$204) a day engaging in “human hunting”; police using rubber bullets and Taser guns; helicopters raining pepper spray - containing the carcinogen dichloromethane - on the strikers; and authorities cutting off electricity and water to the sweltering strike scene.

“I was surprised to hear that even in this desperate and poor situation, the workers used the only small generator they could get their hands on not for lighting or to draw water, but to ensure the paint in the paint shop didn’t dry and harden.”

Even more noteworthy is that “Musical Chairs” was published using the “talent donation”, where an artist donates his or her work to a cause, method for the first time. For each copy of the 12,000 won (US$10.60) book, Gong will donate 1,200 won and the publishing company 3,000 won (US$2.60). This means readers will have 4,200 won (US$3.70) donated to support the Ssangyong’s laid off workers when they buy a copy.

To mark the publishing of the book, a concert featuring the popular folk band Deulgukhwa is scheduled for Aug 18. A separate event with psychologist Jeong Hye-sin, Seoul National University law professor Cho Kuk and concert director Tak Hyun-min will also be held.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]