Jang Dong-hyuk, standing chairman of the People Power Party's election committee, on Wednesday praised Yang Hyang-ja, the party's candidate for Gyeonggi Province governor, who began a hunger strike urging a labor-management compromise at Samsung Electronics. He criticized Choo Mi-ae, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate, saying she was "only watching the union's reaction."
Jang wrote on Facebook that day, "The governor who will grow Gyeonggi Province's semiconductor industry and enrich the lives of its residents — the answer is Yang Hyang-ja."
"Candidate Yang is the protagonist of a 'high school graduate legend,' starting as a research assistant in Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division and rising to executive," he said. "She has launched a struggle, staking everything to prevent the collapse of the company she devoted her life to and to avert a crisis for the Republic of Korea."
Targeting Choo, the Democratic Party candidate for Gyeonggi governor, he said, "She has only offered the textbook position that 'dialogue is needed' on the Samsung Electronics strike," adding, "Even though it is obvious this will be a nuclear-bomb-level disaster for Gyeonggi's economy, she is only watching the union's reaction."
He continued, "On top of that, Choo Mi-ae has come out defending Kim Yong-beom's 'national dividend' even in this situation," sharpening his criticism. "It amounts to standing by while the central government takes away revenues that Gyeonggi residents should enjoy."
"Yang Hyang-ja and Choo Mi-ae are not even competitors to begin with," he stressed. "The governor who will grow Gyeonggi Province's semiconductor industry and enrich the lives of its residents — the answer is Yang Hyang-ja."
Yang, the first high school graduate to become a Samsung Electronics executive, urged a smooth compromise between Samsung Electronics' labor and management and began an indefinite hunger strike from 7 p.m. that day in front of the gate of Samsung Electronics' Pyeongtaek Campus in Godeok-dong, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
"Because someone must stake everything to prevent a collapse, starting today I am beginning an indefinite one-person protest and hunger strike calling for a grand compromise between Samsung Electronics' labor and management," Yang said.
Earlier that afternoon, Yang paid a courtesy call on former President Lee Myung-bak and discussed the Samsung Electronics general strike issue.
After meeting the former president, Yang told reporters, "If semiconductor production lines stop for even a single day, global supply chains will be shaken, and it will take years to restore the external credibility built up over decades."
