"'In-guk-gong Incident' Joseon Dynasty Yangban and Sangnom Divided into Regular and Non-Regular Workers"

"Non-regular workers are not in the same situation as existing regular workers"

On the 22nd, after finishing a briefing on the regularization of security screening workers at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1, Koo Bon-hwan, CEO of Incheon International Airport Corporation, was met with strong protests from employees as he left the briefing room and was heading to the elevator. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Seul-gi] Incheon International Airport Corporation, the first public institution to declare 'Zero Non-Regular Workers,' announced that it will convert non-regular workers to regular employees by the end of June, sparking controversy. On the 24th, Ha Jong-gang, chief professor at the Labor Academy of Sungkonghoe University, pointed out, "The problem was that there were too few regular employees before."

In an interview with CBS Radio's 'Sisa Jaki Jung Kwan-yong,' Professor Ha said, "The total number of employees at Incheon International Airport Corporation is about 11,400, of which about 1,400 are regular employees. That means the remaining 10,000 are non-regular workers, specifically 9,785. Incheon Airport is a paradise for indirectly employed non-regular workers."

On the same day, a petition titled 'Stop the Regularization of Non-Regular Workers in Public Institutions' received over 200,000 signatures on the Blue House's public petition board. Regarding this petition, Professor Ha said, "If this continues, out of 10 people employed today, 7 or 8 will be non-regular workers."

Professor Ha stated, "If non-regular workers are converted to the same status as existing regular employees, I would oppose it too. Someone posted on my social network service (SNS) timeline, saying, 'Isn't it like getting angry because the math department's quota was reduced while preparing to enter the English department?' Because there are too many non-regular workers, regular employees have become a class. Like the yangban and sangnom in the Joseon Dynasty. If you want to become a regular employee, you should support the regularization of non-regular workers."

On the 25th, a petition titled "Stop Regularizing Non-Regular Workers in Public Enterprises" was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board. As of 10 a.m. on the 25th, the petition had received support from over 220,000 people.

Professor Ha explained, "Non-regular workers mainly work in core areas such as airport fire brigades, wildlife control, passenger security screening, airport operations, airport facility system security, and security. A few days ago, it was announced that 1,902 of them would be directly employed and regularized." He added, "In May 2017, the president of Incheon International Airport Corporation promised to convert all 10,000 airport family members from non-regular to regular employees within this year."

He continued, "There are two methods. Either direct employment as regular workers or establishing subsidiaries and receiving subsidiary regular employment. The final plan was to directly employ 3,000 out of 10,000 as regular employees and have 7,000 as subsidiary regular employees." He cited Kyung Hee University as a representative example: "Three years ago, Kyung Hee University's janitorial workers were regularized through a subsidiary, which was widely praised as a model case in the media. But after three years, the university switched contracts to another service company. That means immediate unemployment. Employment succession must be done again. This is the fate of subsidiary regular employees."

Regarding the 1,900 people announced to be directly employed as regular workers, he said, "It's because of the law. To operate a special security business, according to the Security Services Act, you must be employed by a company licensed for special security services. However, the airport corporation is legally not allowed to operate a special security business. So if directly employed, they cannot conduct security screening. That was the reason. But in reality, it is entirely possible if they are converted to security guards."

At 3:15 PM on the 23rd, a university in Seoul. Students are deeply focused on studying.
Photo by Joohee Kang, Intern Reporter kjh818@

Regarding unverifiable messages reported in the media such as, 'A 22-year-old who entered security after military discharge from Alba Heaven earning 1.9 million won is now going to become a regular airport employee,' Professor Ha said, "The facts are wrong. Criticism would be valid if non-regular workers' wages significantly increased and their working conditions improved to the level of existing regular employees upon conversion."

He added, "If, when converting to regular employees, they can freely choose existing regular employee tasks and partially accept the existing rank and seniority system, and are assigned by department accordingly, then such concerns would be valid. But that is absolutely not the case." He emphasized, "The nature of the work does not change at all, working conditions hardly improve, and salaries do not increase significantly. Only the employment type changes from indirect to direct employment. Even if they work for decades until retirement, they remain security screening personnel. Since they do not infringe on existing regular employee tasks, they are not even eligible for promotion competition later."

Professor Ha speculated, "If I were a regular employee at the airport corporation, I would be most afraid of the disruption of the power balance within the company. From the labor union perspective, if the unions merge, that side would take control, and even if the unions remain separate, that side is the majority union and would exercise bargaining representative rights."

He expressed concern, "The sentiment has become so deteriorated that even such an improvement in welfare benefits cannot be tolerated. If this atmosphere continues to be stirred up, negative public opinion will form, and the entry barriers in the process of regularizing non-regular workers could become significantly higher."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.