KCTU leader must come out and face police investigation

Han Sang-gyun, the head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), who led the controversial laborers’ protest last Saturday, is hiding in the Jogye Buddhist temple in Seoul. “Due to the absence of the chief manager of the temple, it will take some time to present our official stance, but we are not planning to release him now,” spokesman of the temple said Tuesday, hinting at the possibility of protecting him for a while.

The former union head of Ssangyong Motor under the Korean Metal Workers’ Union, Han is facing an arrest warrant for failing to appear in court four times on the charge of staging illegal protests on Labor Day this year. “Let’s show to them that when angered, we, workers can cripple not only Seoul but also the entire country," Han said during the Saturday protest. He promised that he would be held solely accountable for all trouble and urging the crowd to advance to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, which he called the heart of power. If this is the case, he should take all responsibilities and get judicial judgment fair and square instead of seeking refuge in a religious facility.

In the wake of the nationwide protest over mad cow disease in 2008, Jogye Temple provided shelter for six people including the head of the KCTU, and in December 2013, senior members of the railway trade union found refuge in the temple after staging a strike. The Korean government tends to take a more careful approach to mobilizing police forces in religious facilities, and this has been conveniently used for the runaways in both cases. When the country was under the authoritarian regime, Myeongdong Cathedral served as a political sanctuary for democratic activists. However, we are no longer living in a country ruled by dictatorship that suppresses the freedom of assemblies and protests. Above all, Han Sang-gyun is responsible for instigating violent protests.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, only 10.3 percent of local companies have the trade union system in place and the confederation that Han represents takes up only one third of the existing members of trade unions in Korea. On last Saturday, the protesters vandalized police vehicles, hurled bricks to the police, and swung iron pipes and square bars to them. If the temple continues to protect the union leader, it may appear that it is knowingly harboring a criminal. The temple needs to talk him into removing himself from the temporary shelter soon.

"Our temple is a religious place where we practice prayers 24 hours a day and should not be used to cater to political acts or collectivism such as assemblies,” sources of the temple said back in 2013 when the leaders of the railway workers’ strike found shelter at the temple. The believers at the temple are already experiencing inconvenience as the place is surrounded by the police forces. Han will have to walk out of the temple voluntarily and cooperate for police investigation.