KCTU executives resign en masse

The executive committee of the nation`s No. 2 umbrella labor union yesterday resigned en masse in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal which was brought to light only five days ago.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions announced all nine leading members of the union, including its president Lee Suk-haeng, will step down during a press conference held at its headquarters.

"We have reached this decision to share the pain of the female victim and deliver our sincere apologies," said its vice president Jin Young-ok, who has been serving as the group`s acting president after the arrest of Lee. "We all resign to prevent any additional harm to the victim and to root out any further sexual assault within the organization."

This is the fourth time the executive committee resigned en masse since the group`s establishment in 1995.

In a hand-written letter, Lee said, "everything is my fault and I will take full responsibility for this incident."

The suspected attacker is known to be one of Lee`s close associates.

Jin added, however, that the executive group did not request the victim -- a member of a unionized teachers` group -- to give a false testimony to the prosecutors and that it did not attempt to seal the case for a month.

The group planned to hold a meeting to discuss whether to advance the nomination process to select a new president, slated for yearend, and the formation of an emergency countermeasure committee which will lead the union until the group has a new leader.

Meanwhile, the victim yesterday filed a complaint against the attacker with the prosecution.

The question now comes down to whether the hardliners will take the helm, with the resignation of a moderate president.

Earlier last week, hardliners of the militant umbrella labor group demanded the entire executive panel to resign.

It came as four leading members, vice presidents who belonged to the hardliner group, vowed to step down on the same day, possibly a move to take over the KCTU`s leadership, according to experts.

The group has been regaining ground in recent months to step up its fight against President Lee Myung-bak`s "business-friendly" labor policies.

Major conflict between the union and the government is expected to erupt this year with the revision of the law on irregular workers, corporate layoffs, restructuring of the public sector and its boycott of an emergency council formed last week between labor, management, civic groups and the government.

The KCTU, which is known for its confrontational tactics, currently has 664,394 members.

By Cho Ji-hyun



(sharon@heraldm.com)