&#91EDITORIALS&#93Bold to the detriment of all

The invasion of the meeting place of the Public Fund Oversight Committee by the unionized workers of Chohung Bank very clearly shows the status labor unions hold in our society. It was reported that about 20 members of the bank’s labor union attempted to enter forcibly into the meeting place, where a contract for the sale of the bank was being examined. Four or five members, including the union head, succeeded in entering the premises, and announced unilaterally their position there, according to the report. During the clash with police protecting the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. building, where the meeting was held, a union member reportedly shouted, “We have entered even the Blue House. So, with what authority do you block us?” Considering this news, our society may well be called the paradise of labor unions, where the power of interest groups overwhelms laws and logic.
The Blue House is pointedly responsible for such conditions. President Roh Moo-hyun met secretly with the officials of Chohung Bank’s labor union in January after he was elected as president and before he took office. Moon Jae-in, Blue House senior secretary for civil affairs, met with the labor union’s officials on May 26. On June 2, a discussion between the government and labor over the sale of Chohung Bank was held under the supervision of Lee Joung-woo, Blue House director-general for policy planning. The government spent trillions of won of public funds to shore up the bank and might have to spend more. Accordingly, selling the bank is not an issue between the government and the bank’s labor union but a problem impinging on the national economy. What is more important: saving the labor union or shielding the economy from further loss? The answer is clear. But the Blue House has acted as if it supports the bank union’s position, leading them to become bold.
Invading Korea Deposit Insurance, a state-run firm, can be regarded as interference in government. But the insurer did not fault the Chohung workers. The government should not condone illegal demonstrations. They should be punished according to law.