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Kim Yong-gyun (24), an irregular worker who died when he got caught in machinery during the night shift for Taean Power Station, in Taean County, South Chungcheong Province, on Dec. 10, was photographed two months holding a placard imploring South Korean President Moon Jae-in to resolve labor abuses and the issue of irregular workers. (provided by the Coalition of Power Plant Irregular Workers)
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24-year-old Kim Yong-gyun was working nightshift alone
The 24-year-old man liked listening to the songs of K-pop boy band BTS. He would sing to blow off stress. He had a healthy appetite, but his favorite food was fried chicken. People said he “got along well with others” and was “full of passion.” After graduating from a vocational school and completing his military service, this young man was hired on Sept. 17 as a contract worker by Korea Engineering and Power Services, a facility management subcontractor at Taean Power Station, which is operated by Korea Western Power. This was the young man’s first job, and the company promised to make him a regular worker after one year on the job. He had recently told his family that the job was difficult, but that he could handle it because he was still in the learning phase. This young man, named Kim Yong-gyun, died when he was caught in machinery during the night shift on Dec. 10. He had been inspecting the coal conveyor belt at the 04C zone at the transformer tower for units No. 9 and No. 10 at the Taean Power Station, located at Wonbok Township, Taean County, South Chungcheong Province. Kim’s body was found at 3:20 am by a coworker surnamed Lee (62 years old). “Kim had been put on the night shift yesterday. When he didn’t answer the phone, I went looking for him and found his body mangled in the machinery,” Lee told the police. Kim’s job was to make the rounds in the power station, a route running 4 or 5km, from 6 pm on Dec. 10 until 7:30 am on Dec. 11. Kim spoke with Lee on the phone at 10:21 pm, and a security camera spotted him walking near the scene of the accident 14 minutes later. That was the last anyone saw of him. His dead body was found stuck in the machinery some four hours later. Kim and 11 coworkers were working on a four-team, two-shift system at the coal plant, which runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Under this system, workers do one day shift and one night shift before getting two days off. The day shift runs for 11 hours, from 7:30 am until 6:30 pm, and the night shift for 13 hours, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 am. There are no breaks during work hours. The outsourcing of risk and death Kim’s tragic death was announced during a press conference held on the 19th floor of the Press Center, in downtown Seoul, at 11 am on Tuesday. The press conference had been called by irregular workers who want to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. It was organized by a group called Stop Using Irregular Workers! Joint Action for 11 Million Irregular Workers, which arranged four days of events starting on Nov. 12 in front of the Blue House, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and the National Assembly to demand a resolution to the issue of irregular workers. Lee Tae-seong, an irregular worker at the power plant, described himself as “a worker who has been producing electricity for the past 20 years.” “Today, I lost a coworker,” Lee said while tearfully sharing the news of Kim’s death during the press conference. “This 24-year-old young man got stuck in the coal conveyer belt and was decapitated.” “During the parliamentary audit on Oct. 18, we said that workers don’t have to be given regular status as long as they don’t have to die anymore. And now today I’ve lost another coworker. Please don’t let anyone else die. The way forward is to stop the outsourcing of danger and the outsourcing of death,” Lee said. When workers described Kim’s horrible death – along with the fact that his body was left in the conveyor belt for so long – the press conference was filled with the sounds of sobbing. A tragic irony was that, two months ago, Kim had taken photos holding two placards when he applied to attend this very press conference. One of the placards said, “President Moon Jae-in, I’d like you to meet with us irregular workers. We need to get rid of the unfair labor laws, punish those responsible for illegal dispatches and give irregular workers regular status by hiring them directly.” The other placard said, “My name is Kim Yong-gyun, and I’m an irregular worker who operates the coal equipment at a coal plant.”
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Irregular worker Lee Tae-seong, a colleague of the late Kim Yong-gyun, weeps during a press conference held by a coalition of irregular workers at the Seoul Press Center on Dec. 11 calling for a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in regarding labor abuses under subcontractors. (provided by the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union)
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