Trial Process:
When a labor union for Cor-Tek Daejeon Factory was founded in April 2006, Cor-Tek Corporation suppressed the union by firing four executive members, including the chapter leader In-geun Lee, and cutting the wages of 40 union members as a disciplinary action in April 2007. In the same month, the company unilaterally declared its temporary closure, and dismissed all the union members for managerial reasons in July of the same year. However, Cor-Tek’s turnover had been stable between 51.1 to 69 billion won between 2001 and 2007, with a significant annual net profit over 6.6 billion won, with a very sound and stable solvency and financing ability.
The laid-off workers filed a lawsuit for a nullity of dismissal in 2008. They lost the case at the first trial, but at the appeal, the bench ruled that it was hard to believe that the company faced an imminent managerial crisis, stating that “the business situation of the Daejeon Factory alone was not sufficient to determine the urgent managerial necessity of the dismissal, and the overall business situation of the company should be reviewed to make such judgment” (in 2009).
However, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the decision of the High Court for the reason of insufficient examination, stating that “even if it was hard to believe that there was a management crisis, it is still necessary for the company to deal with the crisis that will happen in the future” (in 2012). This Supreme Court ruling was later voted as “the worst ruling of 2012” by The Kyunghyang Daily, Weekly Kyunghyang Magazine and Minbyun - Lawyers for a Democratic Society.
A court appointed appraiser(accountant) at the remand trial submitted the opinion that “With its good financial structure and profitability, and judging from the level of its operating loss, Cor-Tek’s Daejeon Factory does not have any financial factors that would spread to the entire company and cause a crisis in the future” (Management Appraisal Report on Cor-Tek Corporation and Its Daejeon Factory dated August 16, 2013). However, while the court acknowledged that the factory’s continued loss would not worsen the business of the entire corporation as described in the appraisal report, it acknowledged the layoff as valid because the decision to close the local factory was to cope with the crisis that the company may face in the future.
After the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, it was revealed that Sung-tae Yang, the then Chief of the Supreme Court, abused his judicial authority. The 98 documents made available to the public by the Special Task Force Investigating the Suspicion of Abuse of Judicial Authority (Investigation Report dated May 25, 2018) include the details of 16 rulings in favor of the Blue House that are suspected to be part of the deals that Yang attempted to strike with the Blue House as the Chief Justice to introduce a new type of appellate court.
The Cor-Tek case was categorized as “a case supporting the government administration” and mentioned as “a judgment that can contribute to labor reform.” The document states that “in order to ensure the flexibility of the labor market, it is necessary to establish the requirements for the layoff, and efforts have been made to establish advanced standards” through this ruling on the Cor-Tek layoff case.
On February 11, 2019, Young-han Ko, a former Supreme Court justice who was the presiding judge for the second appellate trial of the Cor-Tek case, was prosecuted without detention and Yang with detention for their “trading” of court rulings to get favorable results. Yang and Ko, who is one of the main “accomplices,” are brought to trial for 47 charges, including abuse of their official authority, loss of state treasury, and divulgence of official secrets.
It is the first time in the history of Korean constitutional government that the head of the judiciary is placed under arrest for the charge of the abuse of judiciary authority. The public calls for a thorough investigation on the damages from this unprecedented judicial scandal and a strict punishment of those responsible, and accordingly, civil society organizations hold rallies on a regular basis. The victims of the unlawful trials, including the dismissed workers of Cor-Tek, are demanding a retrial of their cases.
When a labor union for Cor-Tek Daejeon Factory was founded in April 2006, Cor-Tek Corporation suppressed the union by firing four executive members, including the chapter leader In-geun Lee, and cutting the wages of 40 union members as a disciplinary action in April 2007. In the same month, the company unilaterally declared its temporary closure, and dismissed all the union members for managerial reasons in July of the same year. However, Cor-Tek’s turnover had been stable between 51.1 to 69 billion won between 2001 and 2007, with a significant annual net profit over 6.6 billion won, with a very sound and stable solvency and financing ability.
The laid-off workers filed a lawsuit for a nullity of dismissal in 2008. They lost the case at the first trial, but at the appeal, the bench ruled that it was hard to believe that the company faced an imminent managerial crisis, stating that “the business situation of the Daejeon Factory alone was not sufficient to determine the urgent managerial necessity of the dismissal, and the overall business situation of the company should be reviewed to make such judgment” (in 2009).
However, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the decision of the High Court for the reason of insufficient examination, stating that “even if it was hard to believe that there was a management crisis, it is still necessary for the company to deal with the crisis that will happen in the future” (in 2012). This Supreme Court ruling was later voted as “the worst ruling of 2012” by The Kyunghyang Daily, Weekly Kyunghyang Magazine and Minbyun - Lawyers for a Democratic Society.
A court appointed appraiser(accountant) at the remand trial submitted the opinion that “With its good financial structure and profitability, and judging from the level of its operating loss, Cor-Tek’s Daejeon Factory does not have any financial factors that would spread to the entire company and cause a crisis in the future” (Management Appraisal Report on Cor-Tek Corporation and Its Daejeon Factory dated August 16, 2013). However, while the court acknowledged that the factory’s continued loss would not worsen the business of the entire corporation as described in the appraisal report, it acknowledged the layoff as valid because the decision to close the local factory was to cope with the crisis that the company may face in the future.
After the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, it was revealed that Sung-tae Yang, the then Chief of the Supreme Court, abused his judicial authority. The 98 documents made available to the public by the Special Task Force Investigating the Suspicion of Abuse of Judicial Authority (Investigation Report dated May 25, 2018) include the details of 16 rulings in favor of the Blue House that are suspected to be part of the deals that Yang attempted to strike with the Blue House as the Chief Justice to introduce a new type of appellate court.
The Cor-Tek case was categorized as “a case supporting the government administration” and mentioned as “a judgment that can contribute to labor reform.” The document states that “in order to ensure the flexibility of the labor market, it is necessary to establish the requirements for the layoff, and efforts have been made to establish advanced standards” through this ruling on the Cor-Tek layoff case.
On February 11, 2019, Young-han Ko, a former Supreme Court justice who was the presiding judge for the second appellate trial of the Cor-Tek case, was prosecuted without detention and Yang with detention for their “trading” of court rulings to get favorable results. Yang and Ko, who is one of the main “accomplices,” are brought to trial for 47 charges, including abuse of their official authority, loss of state treasury, and divulgence of official secrets.
It is the first time in the history of Korean constitutional government that the head of the judiciary is placed under arrest for the charge of the abuse of judiciary authority. The public calls for a thorough investigation on the damages from this unprecedented judicial scandal and a strict punishment of those responsible, and accordingly, civil society organizations hold rallies on a regular basis. The victims of the unlawful trials, including the dismissed workers of Cor-Tek, are demanding a retrial of their cases.