Iran workers warn Daewoo protests aren’t over

Workers of Iran’s Entekhab Industrial Group hold portraits of late founder of Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, as they demonstrate in front of the Korean Embassy in Tehran on Oct. 21. / AFP-Yonhap

The leader of Iranian electronics maker Entekhab Industrial Group’s (EIG) labor union has vowed another major protest in front of the Korean Embassy in Tehran “very soon” if their return of deposit demands from Daewoo Electronics’ creditors are not met.

“I can say as the representative of the labor union, if the down payment for this contract doesn’t return to Entekhab Industrial Group, the labor union will continue demonstrations such as this (in October in front of the Korean Embassy in Tehran) based on human kind and Islamic duty,” said Ali Ghaznavi Mahdi, union leader of EIG in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times during a visit to Seoul.

“Because EIG has a good position in the view of the Iran government, leaders and the Iranian population, if Korea doesn’t find a solution for this issue, it affect the relations between Korea and Iran.”

The Iranian electronics maker earlier won an auction to buy Daewoo Electronics from the Korean company’s creditors Woori Bank and Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) in 2010 and signed a contract and paid a portion of the $518 million down payment.

However, Korea agreed to join international sanctions against Iran and the creditors decided to cancel the deal due to financial uncertainties. EIG said Bank Mellat, which has an office in Seoul, would guarantee the rest of the deposit but its bid was refused.

The controversy caused a demonstration last month in Tehran where around 1,000 EIG employees held a protest in front of the Korean Embassy there asking for the money back. According to the union leader, the ambassador promised the union to “solve this matter and follow it seriously” but he has seen no positive action from the Seoul government.

“If this matter is not resolved as soon as possible, we will continue to demonstrate in front of the Korean Embassy to solve this matter. We will watch Korea’s actions. Entekhab Industrial Group will stop more important cargo from Korea. However, you know Korea is a main commercial partner of Iran. They are exporting huge amounts of home appliance from Korea. On the other hand, they import Iranian oil. We don’t want to affect that relationship,” he added.

Mahdi went onto claim that the lack of support or response from the Korean government was to allow local firms to overtake his and take control of the Iranian electronic appliance market.

“I should say one thing and this is very important: in any country, we haven’t had any demonstrations in front of the Korean Embassy. This is the first time a labor union has protested in front of the Korean Embassy.

“In Islam we know we can never accept any force from another person: we have to show this matter by show of heart. Because as humans we are responsible for some workers who lost their jobs.”

According to the union leader, out of 4,000 employees under his care, around 1,500 have lost their jobs due to Woori Bank and KAMCO not returning the deposit. He also said that he didn’t blame his company saying its executives had no choice but to do so. He stressed that it was the responsibility of the Korean government.

He said that he visited several local law firms related to the lawsuit that EIG has filed against the creditors. KAMCO has refused the settlement suggested by a Korean court.

EIG is a private company founded in 1997 and is one of the biggest electronics company in the Persian Gulf area, said Mahdi.

Daewoo has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Dongbu Group which is speeding up its efforts to acquire the firm. The Korean conglomerate recently invited Japanese financial services provider SIB Group to join the consortium for the acquisition. <The Korea Times/Cho Mu-hyun>