[Reporter’s Notebook] No 'Stockholm Syndrome' With Strikes Like This

The Delivery Workers' Union is holding a rally condemning CJ in front of the CJ Logistics headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 16th. They are demanding the deployment of dedicated sorting personnel, adherence to a work schedule within 60 hours per week, and fair distribution of the increased delivery fees. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] In 1973, a strange event occurred in Stockholm, Sweden. During a six-day bank robbery, the hostage-takers and hostages fell in love. Although irrational, this was possible because the hostages knew the robbers would not harm them. After being rescued, the hostages refused to give testimony unfavorable to the robbers. This was the moment the term "Stockholm syndrome" was born.

Currently, a hostage situation is unfolding in South Korea as well. Since the 10th, the delivery workers' union has occupied the headquarters of CJ Logistics and held rallies. They have announced that if the company does not promptly implement the social agreement to resolve the issue of delivery workers' death from overwork by the 21st, the strike will expand to all delivery companies. In effect, the corporation CJ Logistics and its employees have been taken hostage.

Delivery customers and ordinary citizens have also become hostages. Citizens who have been enduring the government's strict quarantine measures feel frustrated when they see the delivery workers' union gathering, removing masks, eating, and talking together. Meanwhile, due to the strike that has continued since December last year, citizens who purchased goods through CJ Logistics have been waiting a long time for their deliveries. Among them are busy working parents raising young children, elderly people with mobility difficulties, and people with disabilities.

There are also citizens whose livelihoods are at stake. Since the strike began in December last year, self-employed business owners have been suffering silently. They have excess inventory to sell, but deliveries are not going out, resulting in ongoing storage costs. Self-employed business owners who could not sell many goods even during the Lunar New Year peak season would not welcome the expansion of the strike to all delivery companies. Among them are those who have taken out loans due to the difficult situation after COVID-19 and employees who have not received their salaries for months, watching only their bank accounts with no increase.

Citizens have not simply criticized the delivery workers' strikes that occurred several times in the past. This is because they understand their hard work well after COVID-19. Does the delivery workers' union want to experience Stockholm syndrome with the citizens again? If so, they should reread the definition of Stockholm syndrome before engaging in disputes.

An irrational phenomenon, but an attachment that occurs when "the hostage is not harmed."

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