Celebrated labor leader released from prison

Posted on : 2018-05-22 15:56 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Former KTCU president Han Sang-gyun freed after two years and five months in captivity
Former KCTU president Han Sang-gyun (right) was released on parole from Hwaseong Detention Center in Gyeonggi Province on May 21. Han was greeted by his former colleagues
Former KCTU president Han Sang-gyun (right) was released on parole from Hwaseong Detention Center in Gyeonggi Province on May 21. Han was greeted by his former colleagues

“I skipped breakfast so I could have a bowl of Pyongyang naengmyeon [cold noodles] for lunch. Workers are only happy when they’re by their comrades’ side.”

Han Sang-gyun stretched out his arms and let out a hurrah. The former Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) president was smiling freely after being paroled following two years and five months in prison.

“Our president Han Sang-gyun, you really struggled! We love you so much!” The large banner prepared by the Ssangyong Motor chapter of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union rippled in the wind. Han previously served as the chapter’s president in 2009.

At 10 am on May 21, former KCTU president Han Sang-gyun was released on parole from Hwaseong Detention Center in Gyeonggi Province with six months remaining in his sentence. KCTU members, family members of victims in the Sewol ferry sinking, and figures from progressive parties and the religious community stood out in front of the center to celebrate his release.

”The world is changing”

Former KCTU president Kim Myung-hwan met Han at the entrance and placed a KCTU vest on him. Jeon Myeong-seon, president of the group 4/16 Sewol Families for Truth and a Safer Society pinned a yellow Sewol commemoration ribbon on the left side of his chest.

“The world is changing,” Han declared, his cheeks brightly flushed.

“I’ve heard a lot of things I didn’t hear while I was prison the last time. The guards in the prison told me they wanted to become Korean Government Employees' Union members,” he said of the changes he experienced while in prison.

With the world changing, Han maintains that the labor movement must also change. Among the developments he observed behind bars that convinced him of the changing world were Samsung declaring an end to its no-union policy and the dialogue between South and North Korea.

“[Labor issues] aren’t resolved in a single fight. You can’t fix everything at all once,” he said, predicting a long road ahead for the labor movement.

“In the past, we were prone to spending our time criticizing and denouncing. Now we need to use our abilities to liberate labor and create a world of equality,” he stressed.

Han, who finished his term as KCTU president while incarcerated last December, plans to focus on organizing workers, including irregular employees. “We need to overcome the painful scars of these small clashes and animosity and be generous. I really think I’ll be able to do it,” Han said of his hopes for the labor movement. “Everyone’s watching.”

 family members of victims in the Sewol ferry sinking
family members of victims in the Sewol ferry sinking

Han was arrested after surrendering himself to police at Seoul’s Jogye Temple on Dec. 10, 2015, on charges of violation of the Assembly and Demonstration Act, obstruction of public duties, and obstruction of traffic for organizing 13 demonstrations, including a popular indignation rally that November. He was indicted the following January, and a three-year sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2017.

Members of the labor community, civil society, and religious world have sternly demanded a pardon, claiming his arrest was an example of misguided labor suppression policies by the Park Geun-hye administration (2013–16). Members of the international community, including the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, also named him as a notable example of a prisoner of conscience.

By Lee Ji-hae, staff reporter

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

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