Gumi laments loss of some Samsung jobs

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Gumi laments loss of some Samsung jobs

People in Gumi, North Gyeongsang, are urging Samsung Electronics to drop a plan to move some manufacturing jobs to Suwon, Gyeonggi, where the company’s headquarters and other manufacturing facilities are located.

“We request Samsung Electronics to rescind its decision to move from Gumi,” Gumi Mayor Jang Se-yong said at the National Assembly on Thursday. “This decision will threaten the economic stability of Gumi.”

Jang met with lawmakers to drum up support for Gumi’s local businesses.

“The 430,000 residents of Gumi deeply regret the decision by Samsung Electronics,” the mayor said in a statement on Monday. “The central government is trying to balance the regional divide in business developments, but Samsung Electronics is trying to move part of its manufacturing into the capital area. Samsung has been with us for the past 40 years. The locals are confused and worried about the decision.”

Samsung announced on June 29 that it is moving some of its manufacturing in Gumi to Suwon, where its R&D departments are located.

Some 9,500 to 9,600 employees work at two Samsung Electronics factories in Gumi that specialize in cell phone parts, according to Samsung. Fewer than 400 of them will be moving to Suwon, according to a Samsung employee.

“Among the workers in Gumi, there are 400 [employees] working on manufacturing cell phone parts specifically for network connections,” a Samsung representative told the JoongAng Ilbo. “Some of them will be moving to Suwon, but not all of them. The impact of this move on the local economy in Gumi will be insignificant.”

Some worry Samsung may be planning to move the other factory to Vietnam.

“Samsung may be planning to pull out of Gumi altogether,” an employee of the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice’s Gumi branch said.


BY KIM JUNG-SEOK [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
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