KCTU "Refusal to Submit Additional Accounting Data... Legal Response if Fined"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) reaffirmed its stance to respond to the government's demands for strengthening union accounting transparency.

On the 17th, the FKTU announced that in the third directive sent to its affiliated organizations, it instructed them to refuse the government's additional data submission requests and stated its intention to pursue joint legal action seeking cancellation of fines if the government imposes penalties.

Through a press release, the FKTU argued, "Requesting the submission of internal pages of documents held or kept by the union, despite no legal violations being found in the union's internal operations, constitutes an unfair demand that exceeds the Ministry of Labor's authority under the current Labor Union Act."

It added, "Demanding supplementary and additional documents on the grounds that internal pages of stored documents are missing, and imposing fines if these demands are not met, is an overreach and illegal interference in union operations."

Regarding the Ministry of Labor's recent demands, the FKTU had previously issued guidelines to its affiliated organizations to submit only the cover pages, excluding internal pages and self-inspection reports, to the Ministry.

Earlier, from the 1st to the 15th, the Ministry of Labor requested accounting-related documents from a total of 327 unit unions and federations with more than 1,000 members. Only 120 organizations (36.7%) submitted documents in accordance with the government's request.

The Ministry of Labor decided to operate a two-week correction period starting from the 17th. During this period, unions can appear in person at the Ministry's headquarters or local offices or submit written opinions to provide explanations. If corrections are not made, the fine imposition process could begin as early as the 15th of next month. The Ministry also plans to conduct on-site investigations under the Act on the Regulation of Violations of Order against unions that neither submit related documents nor provide explanations.

President Yoon, presiding over the senior secretaries' meeting that morning, was briefed on the situation where a significant number of unions refused to disclose their accounting books. He stated, "Reform cannot be achieved without ensuring accounting transparency," and emphasized, "Transparency in union accounting is the starting point of union reform."

Spokesperson Lee Do-woon conveyed that President Yoon instructed Minister of Labor Lee Jung-sik to provide a comprehensive report on the issue of union accounting transparency.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) also stated in a statement the previous day, "We will not comply with the Ministry of Labor's correction guidance and fine imposition policy and will confront it through various forms of struggle, including legal action."

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