hankyoreh

Hwang Sang-gi (front row

“Today is the 1,000th day that we have been holding our sit-in in front of Samsung. Thus far, well over 300 workers at Samsung’s semiconductor and liquid crystal display (LCD) factories have reported their illnesses to Banollim, a watchdog group dedicated to defending the health and human rights of semiconductor plant workers, and 118 of them have died. If you shoot and kill someone, you’ll be charged with homicide, but a company that has killed its workers with chemicals hasn’t been charged with anything. We can’t let this continue.”

These remarks were made by Hwang Sang-gi – father of Hwang Yu-mi, who died of leukemia in 2007 at the age of 22 – during a press conference held on the steps in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on July 2. This marked the 30th anniversary of the death of 15-year-old Mun Song-myeon in July 1988, while the preparations for the Seoul Olympics were underway, as well as the 1,000th day since Banollim set up its tent in front of the main office of Samsung Electronics in Seoul’s Seocho neighborhood.

The death of Mun by mercury poisoning, who had been working for a company making pressure gauges and thermometers, brought the issue of industrial accidents into South Korea’s public eye for the first time.

“Back then, Mun Song-myeon wasn’t given adequate training about chemicals. My daughter Yu-mi didn’t receive any kind of education about that at school, either. Even though 90 percent of students become workers upon graduation, the workers of the future aren’t given any education about labor or chemicals. Students should be given labor environment education right away. That’s the only way they won’t get sick and die,” Hwang said.

This press conference was organized by Banollim, Public Joint Action and a committee commemorating the 30th anniversary of the work-related deaths of Mun Song-myeon and workers at Wonjin Rayon. That July 30 years ago was not only when Mun died but also when news broke about the industrial accident at Wonjin Rayon, in which 915 people were poisoned by carbon bisulfide, 230 of them fatally. That incident marked the beginning of the movement for the health and safety of workers in South Korean society.

“The year before last, seven young people were blinded by methanol poisoning while working for an illegal temp agency that assigned them to a factory supplying mobile phone parts to Samsung and LG. A 19-year-old died while repairing the screen doors on a subway station platform, and a student at a special-purpose high school died while doing a practicum. We can’t let this awful situation continue in which more and more young people fall victim to industrial hazards. The National Assembly needs to create a definite way to prosecute companies that churn out such calamities and endanger the lives of their workers,” said Kim Myeong-hwan, chair of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and president of the commemorative committee.

Ham Mi-jeong, secretary general of the Association of Workers in the Wonjin Industrial Accident, spoke on behalf of workers harmed in the incident at Wonjin Rayon: “Workers at Wonjin Rayon must spend the remainder of their lives in despair because of their carbon bisulfide poisoning. The industrial accident at the company was preordained given the obsolete machinery that ought to have been disposed of and the lack of ventilation or even the minimum safety equipment. What workers want is simple – they want their health to be prioritized. Workers are not tools. We will keep pouring our energy into this fight until the day when there are no more industrial accidents so that all workers in this country can lead lives of happiness and decency and enjoy the nobility of work.”

The commemorative committee was launched in May, and by the end of June, 122 organizations and more than 2,900 workers and others had signed up. The commemorative committee is running a number of promotional and memorial programs on a platform of guaranteeing the right to safety, passing legislation to prosecute companies responsible for major catastrophes and completely guaranteeing workers’ right to know about the chemicals they are working with.

During the first week of July, which has been designated as the week for emphasizing industrial health and safety, the committee will be holding a seminar of cases in which the government has officially recognized occupational diseases in the semiconductor industry at COEX in Seoul’s Samseong neighborhood on the morning of July 3 and an event called “the day to besiege Samsung” at the main office of Samsung Electronics in Seoul’s Seocho neighborhood on the evening of July 4. The committee will also be holding a debate about challenges facing labor health and safety at the Franciscan Building in downtown Seoul on the afternoon of July 17.

By Park Ki-yong, staff reporter

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