Your Voice Your Vote 2024

Live results
Last Updated: April 23, 10:42:16PM ET

Elections Today

Pennsylvania

Recent Projections

StateCandidate
Delegates
Donald Trump
Joe Biden

Samsung vice president sentenced to jail over union-busting, Korean media reports

The company executive reportedly received a 16-month sentence on Friday.

December 13, 2019, 2:20 PM

A vice president at Samsung Electronics was sentenced to a 16-month jail term in Seoul for his involvement in attempting to break up a labor union, according to local reports on Friday.

Kang Kyung-hoon, an executive at South Korea's biggest company, was handed the sentence from the Seoul Central District Court for breaching labor union laws and obstruction of business, according to Yonhap News Agency.

He can still appeal the sentence and was not taken into custody, the agency reported.

PHOTO: The Samsung logo is displayed on a screen during an event in New York City, Aug. 2, 2016.
The Samsung logo is displayed on a screen during an event in New York City, Aug. 2, 2016.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images, FILE

Kang was accused of attempting to break up a labor union at the Samsung-run amusement park Everland in Yongin, South Korea, between 2011 and 2018. He was also accused of putting union members under surveillance as well as illegally collecting personal information on them and their families.

He faces a separate trial next week over separate allegations of union-busting for workers at Samsung Electronics, according to Yonhap.

Trade union membership in South Korea teeters at around 10%, similar to rates in the U.S. Both South Korea and the U.S. have some of the lowest rates of union membership among OECD countries, according to the organization's data.

Samsung Electronics did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment Friday.

Related Topics