[Tour Korea = Reporter Kim Kyung-nam]
The Korea Zinc Labor Union (hereafter the Korea Zinc Union) delivered policy proposals to the Democratic Party, the People Power Party, and the Progressive Party candidates competing in the Ulsan mayoral race.
The union’s proposals emphasize protecting Korea Zinc — a linchpin of national infrastructure and a key domestic producer of strategic minerals — and ensuring job security for its workers.
The union pointed to recent actions by other governments to protect strategic industries for economic and security reasons: Japan blocked MBK Partners’ acquisition of Makino milling machines to safeguard core technologies, and Australia ordered divestment by Chinese shareholders in domestic rare-earth firms. The union said these cases show how actively major governments are defending strategic industries from threats to national economic and security interests.
The Korea Zinc Union argued that the public and policymakers must seriously consider what true industrial and economic security looks like for workers and citizens, and how responsible governments and political leaders should respond.
The union added that it is frustrated that, while the major private equity firm MBK has for three years beginning in 2024 persistently targeted Korea Zinc — a flagship local company in Ulsan that plays a central role in national infrastructure and South Korea’s economic security — and has not abandoned hostile takeover attempts, the national government and political parties have appeared passive. Expressing admiration for the responses of Japan and Australia, the union delivered its policy proposals to each mayoral candidate.
The proposal urges candidates to ▲ declare protecting Korea Zinc — a national infrastructure asset and core minerals production base — as their top economic pledge; ▲ adopt a clear policy stance opposing MBK’s predatory incursions into national infrastructure and present concrete measures to block them; and ▲ demand robust safeguards to prevent MBK-style takeovers.
Lee Eun-sun, the union chair, said, “We will watch closely to see who has the courage to defend Ulsan’s local companies and the nation’s critical economic and security assets, and who is fit to lead Ulsan’s future and its economy.”
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