[Photo] Protesting on a smokestack in 50-degree heat

After being wrongfully dismissed, two workers from the Korean Metal Workers’ Union. Hong Gi-tak, former president of the FineTek chapter of the union, and Park Jun-ho, the chapter’s secretary-general, have been holding a sit-in on a smokestack in the Yangcheon District of Seoul to press the company to guarantee the employment status of its workers. The sit-in began on Nov. 12, 2017, meaning they’ve been up there for over 266 days. The recent heat wave has brought Seoul temperatures up to 40 degrees, but temperatures near the smokestack are even hotter. The photo on the right shows a shot of a thermometer showing temperatures on the smokestack climbing up to 50 degrees Celsius. (by Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)