'Fake Disabled Workers' Union' Executives Indicted... Prosecutors Allege Construction Company Bribery

All five union officials accused of creating a 'fake disabled workers' union' without any disabled members and extorting tens of millions of won from construction sites in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions have been brought to trial.

On the 27th, the Criminal Division 3 of the Western Branch of Busan District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Jongpil) indicted the head (46), branch chief (45), and secretary-general (43) of the Disabled Workers' Union Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam branch on charges of joint extortion under the Act on the Punishment of Violent Crimes. The branch organization director (43) and negotiation director (31) were also indicted without detention.

Busan District Prosecutors' Office. [Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the prosecution, these non-disabled individuals created a sham union unrelated to the protection of disabled rights and are accused of extorting about 30 million won from construction companies (joint extortion under the Act on the Punishment of Violent Crimes).

Between June and August of last year, they reportedly visited six apartment construction sites in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam and held rallies or filed complaints under the pretext of 'cracking down on illegal foreign workers,' threatening construction companies as if to disrupt the construction work. When one construction company offered 'site cleaning work,' they refused and demanded only monetary payment, according to the investigation.

The branch chief, secretary-general, and negotiation director are also accused of attempting to disrupt construction and extort 160 million won in the same manner at an apartment construction site in Yangsan, Gyeongnam, between October and November 2022 (charges of joint extortion and obstruction of business under the Act on the Punishment of Violent Crimes), but the attempt failed.

The head and others, based on their past experience in labor organizations, are reported to have prepared a list of local construction sites using prior reconnaissance and personal connections, then devised detailed crime plans. All the extorted money was spent on personal living expenses.

Earlier, the police transferred the detention cases of the branch chief and two secretary-generals to the prosecution, and through supplementary investigations, the prosecution also indicted the head who planned the crime behind the scenes. A prosecution official stated, "Through direct supplementary investigations by the prosecution, the ringleader who planned and directed the crime was detained. From the early stages of the investigation, we closely cooperated with the police to ensure swift evidence collection and other measures, and the prosecutor personally attended the pre-detention suspect hearing (warrant review) to actively justify the necessity of detention."

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