Samsung Dismissed Worker Kim Yonghee Fined for High-Altitude Protest at Gangnam Station

by Kim Daehyun

Published 09 Nov.2021 08:45(KST)

Samsung dismissed worker Kim Yong-hee is waving a Samsung flag on a steel tower near Gangnam Station, Seoul, on February 5 last year. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Kim Yonghee (62, male), a Samsung dismissed worker who staged a high-altitude protest demanding reinstatement at the Gangnam Station intersection in Seoul, was sentenced to a fine in the first trial for violating the Outdoor Advertising Act and other charges.

According to the legal community on the 9th, Judge Byun Minseon of the Criminal Division 10 at the Seoul Central District Court recently sentenced Kim to a fine of 3 million won for charges including violations of the Outdoor Advertising Act and the Road Traffic Act.

Kim was prosecuted for staging a high-altitude protest from June 10, 2019, to May 29 of the following year on top of the traffic CCTV control tower near Samsung Electronics Seocho Building, Gangnam Station, Seoul, and posting banners with phrases such as "Reinstate Samsung dismissed workers, arrest Lee Jae-yong" on traffic management facilities where advertisements and displays are prohibited.

Kim was also charged for obstructing road traffic by parking a vehicle and setting up a one-person tent on the safety zone of an 8-lane road in front of the Samsung Electronics building around 11 p.m. on October 19 last year.

In court, Kim's side argued that "the Outdoor Advertising Act Article 4 does not apply when installing non-profit advertisements intended for lawful political activities or labor movement events or assemblies." They also claimed, "The banner was damaged by someone, and the police who received the report did not actively investigate, which forced the violation of the Road Traffic Act."

The court found all of Kim's charges guilty. The court stated, "It is difficult to consider the CCTV control tower as included within the range of the assembly and protest locations reported by the defendant and others, and the banner remained installed even after the assembly ended." It added, "Even considering all circumstances claimed by the defendant, it is difficult to view the defendant's actions as lawful acts that do not violate social norms." Kim appealed the first trial verdict.

Previously, Kim worked at the Samsung Aerospace (Techwin) factory in Changwon Industrial Complex, Gyeongnam, since 1982 but claimed he was unfairly dismissed for acting as the founding chairman of the local Samsung labor union. Since 1995, he held protests demanding apology and reinstatement from Samsung. Kim, who began the high-altitude protest in 2019 and also conducted three hunger strikes, came down from the tower after reaching an agreement with Samsung in late May last year after 355 days.