Man Causes Disturbance in Front of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Building Adjacent to Samsung’s Seocho Office
Union Holds Press Conference Outside Office Prior to Incident
On the morning of the 17th, the area around Samsung Electronics’ Seocho office in Seoul was split between two strikingly different scenes. A rally by the Samsung Electronics labor union calling for changes to the company’s bonus system had just concluded when an unidentified man launched an apparent random disturbance that plunged the site into confusion.
Around 1 p.m., the man caused a commotion in front of the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance building adjacent to the Seocho office. He parked a vehicle at the main gate and repeatedly sounded its horn, creating persistent noise and disrupting movement.
The parked vehicle blocked a thoroughfare heavily used by employees, creating an immediate risk of collisions. Several people fled in alarm as the scene rapidly deteriorated. Horns and shouting overlapped, and within minutes the area had become nearly uncontrollable.
Responding officers moved in after receiving reports of the disturbance. The man refused police orders to surrender and actively resisted. Officers broke a car window to remove and subdue him on site. During his arrest, he repeatedly cried out for help.
Messages were affixed to the vehicle’s windshield reading, “President Lee Jae-myung, I am innocent” and “Bus hit-and-run neglected for 50 days.”
Earlier that same morning, the Samsung Electronics union had held a rally in front of the company’s offices.
Choi Seung-ho, chair of the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group cross-company labor union, told reporters: “Today, the cross-company union’s Samsung Electronics branch formally declares it has achieved majority-union status for the first time in the company’s history. As the legally recognized employee representative, Chairman Lee Jae-yong must come out and engage with us to establish a genuine labor-management relationship.”
Choi added, “The era in which company-run labor-management councils unilaterally claimed to represent workers is over. Only the cross-company union can legitimately represent Samsung Electronics’ 128,000 employees.”
Addressing Chairman Lee directly, Choi said, “You pledged to end anti-union management and issued a public apology, but nothing has changed. The chairman bears clear responsibility for this dysfunctional labor-management relationship.”
He continued, “We have never once been invited to sit down with company leadership. Now that the cross-company union is the legally recognized employee representative, we strongly urge the chairman to come out and speak frankly to establish a proper labor-management partnership.”
At the press conference, the union formalized its majority status and asserted its rights as workers’ representative. It said membership jumped from roughly 6,000 before September 2025 to about 75,000 in seven months. The union also stated that it secured legal recognition after submitting a related inquiry to the Ministry of Employment and Labor in February and completing verification procedures.
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