Leading S. Korean labor union engulfed in sex offense scandal

(ATTN: RECASTS headline; ADDS criticism on Internet in last para; TRIMS throughout)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- A crisis involving South Korea's major labor union
snowballed Sunday over allegations that its leadership tried to cover up a sexual
offense by a senior official who was fleeing authorities after leading protests
against U.S. beef imports last year.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) said it was set to decide Monday
whether its executive committee would resign en masse over the scandal, in which
one of its officials, only identified by his surname Kang, is accused of
attempting to rape a fellow member.
According to her lawyer, the woman offered Kang shelter at her Seoul apartment
for five days at the request of another union member in December last year.
Kang, one of several union officials who were fleeing investigation for what
police defined as illegal rallies, tried to sexually assault her while sharing
conversation at her home, the lawyer said Thursday.
The scandal is a blow to the union which is considered the more militant of South
Korea's two major umbrella labor groups. The KCTU claims a membership of 750,000
at 1,200 companies, and has boycotted dialogue with the government and business
groups because it deems the country's labor stance uncompromisingly unfair.
Its president, Lee Suk-haeng, is in jail for leading similar protests, and Kang
has chaired a subcommittee at the union. The woman belongs to a teachers' union
affiliated with the KCTU.
Kim Jong-woong, the lawyer, says the union tried to conceal the alleged offense
from the public.
"Senior KCTU officials continually pressured her not to reveal the case to the
public, saying it would seriously damage the organization," Kim said, adding the
woman felt traumatized.
KCTU officials said they will reopen their own investigation into the case.
The row comes as the conservative South Korean government tries to ride out a
deepening economic crisis by pushing through an array of economic plans that
would require concessions from labor unions.
President Lee Myung-bak, viewed as a hardliner on labor groups, has professed his
intention to reform his government into a "business-friendly" one, and the KCTU
has drawn criticism over the years for its refusal to return to talks and a
string of corruption scandals.
Tens of thousands of South Koreans held weeks-long nationwide protests last year
against an April agreement between Washington and Seoul to reopen the South
Korean market to U.S. beef imports.
Protesters argued the resumption would increase risks of their contracting mad
cow disease, a deadly animal disease believed to infect humans and damage their
brains.
The government eventually resumed the imports, and no South Korean has yet been
reported to be infected.
The Internet homepage of the KCTU was bombarded Sunday with messages demanding a
thorough probe and penalties for those involved in the alleged cover-up.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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