HD Hyundai Heavy Industries lost a lawsuit involving a facial recognition system, as labor-management conflicts continue to escalate. South Korea’s shipbuilding industry expressed concerns that union risks could impact the sector’s prosperity.
South Korean media reports indicate that the Ulsan District Court recently acquitted 13 individuals, including former branch president Baek Ho-sun of the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union (hereinafter referred to as “the union”), who had been indicted on charges of special property damage and obstruction of business.
In April 2024, former union branch president Baek Ho-sun and union members dismantled 98 facial recognition devices and fire monitors with surveillance capabilities installed by management without authorization. As a result, Hyundai Heavy Industries filed charges against them for special property damage and obstruction of business.
The court reasoned that “in the process of protecting workers’ basic rights and personal information, their procedural rights that should be protected are infringed upon, and the minimum response measures taken to stop the infringement can be considered as legitimate actions as stipulated in Article 20 of the Criminal Law.”
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries installed a facial recognition system on its factory premises under the pretext of checking employee attendance at partner companies, leading to a conflict with the labor union. The union argues that: the consent procedures for installing the facial recognition system and obtaining personal information were illegal; the union has been requesting negotiations with management for months, but management ignored the union’s demands and forcibly installed the system, indicating procedural problems; and the excessive collection of personal information constitutes a problem.
Regarding the issue of procedural violations, the union pointed out that “when the company requested workers’ personal information such as facial data from them, they used tactics such as ‘no subsidies if you don’t agree’ to coerce workers into signing.” Furthermore, the union also revealed that the employers “forced foreign workers who did not understand Korean to sign Korean-language consent forms without providing translators.”
The report states that HD Hyundai Heavy Industries had imposed disciplinary actions on union members, including a five-week suspension on Baek Ho-sun, the former branch president who damaged facial recognition equipment, in an attempt to pressure the union. However, the Ulsan Local Labor Committee ruled that the company’s disciplinary actions were inappropriate. Subsequently, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries filed a criminal lawsuit against union members who obstructed the installation of facial recognition equipment, but lost the case after a trial lasting about a year, suffering a significant loss of face.
Currently, South Korea’s shipbuilding industry is closely monitoring HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ approach to resolving this matter: on one hand, opting for settlement; on the other, persisting with appeals and insisting on “punishing those responsible.” HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has yet to issue a special statement regarding the aforementioned ruling.
South Korea’s labor community believes that while HD Hyundai Heavy Industries attempted to control employees by introducing a facial recognition system, the ruling by the Ulsan District Court indicates that the court has issued a warning against companies failing to follow proper procedures.