Police Draw Swords, Union Chairman Arrested for Threatening 15 Companies and Collecting 44 Million Won

Daegu Dongbu Police Station "Extortion Demanding Union Development Fund from Construction Company"

The chairman of Labor Union A under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), who is accused of extorting money under the pretext of union development funds from construction companies, has been arrested.

According to the Daegu Dongbu Police Station on the 15th, Mr. A is suspected of coercing the hiring of union members and threatening by filing complaints and reports of minor violations while visiting 14 large apartment construction sites and organizations in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions from September 2018 to August 2022, thereby collecting approximately 44 million KRW in union development funds and other fees from 15 construction companies.

Daegu Dongbu Police Station

The police are investigating whether other executives of the union to which Chairman A belongs were involved and are also looking into additional victim companies.

The police stated, "We received intelligence that Mr. A was demanding money by coercing the hiring of union members or sending cooperation letters requesting financial support under the name of union development funds to specialized construction companies subcontracted for reinforced concrete work at large apartment construction sites in the Daegu area, and we launched an investigation."

A police official said, "We confirmed that Mr. A called site managers to the union office and showed them hundreds of photos taken of safety helmet violations at construction sites, threatening to report them and blatantly demanding money."

He added, "It was also revealed that the extorted money was transferred to the labor union’s corporate account or Mr. A’s personal account, and the funds received in the union account were immediately transferred to accounts in his name or acquaintances’ accounts or withdrawn in cash."

The Daegu Police Agency conducted a "Special Crackdown on Organized Illegal Activities such as Extortion and Violence at Construction Sites" for three months from December last year to June 9 of this year, resulting in 19 cases involving 87 people being cracked down on, with one person arrested.

The types of illegal activities detected were extortion of money under various names such as advance fees and monthly fees involving 63 people (72.4%), obstruction of work such as blocking entry to construction sites and interfering with work involving 22 people (25.3%), and coercion of hiring union members involving 2 people (2.3%).

The police plan to intensify the special crackdown until June 25 and focus their investigative efforts on identifying the masterminds and conspirators behind the illegal activities.

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