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| Civic group members fighting for the reinstatement of a dismissed Samsung Electronics worker hold a protest in front of company Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's residence in Seoul, May 24. Screen capture from YouTube. |
By Park Han-sol
Civic group members who claim to support former Samsung Electronics employees have been drawing public criticism for their unruly behavior when they protested in front of company Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's residence in Seoul.
In a three-minute video uploaded May 24 by the YouTube channel YeondaeTV, a dozen members from the organization are seen cooking pork belly while drinking, singing loudly and playing guitar outside of Lee's home.
The civic group has called for the reinstatement and compensation of Kim Yong-hee, a former Samsung employee who was dismissed in 1995 for allegedly attempting to form a union.
Kim has been staging a protest on top of a 25-meter-tall traffic camera tower near Samsung headquarters in Seoul, for nearly a year.
The group joined Kim in protests in Gangnam until the beginning of this month. However, they changed the location of their rally to the area in front of Lee Jae-yong's residence, May 21, and since then have staged binge-eating strikes and occupied the area with tents.
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| In the protest video re-uploaded on May 26, the text explains that the footage had to be blurred and edited "due to an anonymous request." Screen capture from YouTube |
The video was taken down on May 25 after receiving criticism but was re-uploaded the next day with the image blurred and the text reading "yes, we cooked pork belly and drank beer. We also sang and had debates. We will upload a video of us debating as well. How barbaric of us, am I right?"
One user commented, "How can one call this a protest when they are drinking and making a scene outside of a private residence?" Others also called out the organization for its "shameful" acts and questioned its efficacy in garnering sympathy.
