SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): Lotte Department Store came under fire on Dec 12 after a video surfaced online showing an employee demanding that a visitor take off his union-affiliated vest.
In the video, the employee, who appears to be a security guard, approaches a man sitting at a table and tells him that he is not allowed to wear the vest inside the dining area, saying, “Please mind public etiquette.”
The man, later identified as Lee Kim Chun-taek of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union’s Geoje Tongyeong Goseong branch, is seen wearing a vest bearing the union’s emblem.
When he refuses, saying, “We dress like this in public places. We even go to the Blue House like this,” the employee replies, “This is private property.”
The incident occurred when Lee and about 10 other union members visited the basement food court of the department store’s Jamsil branch in Songpa-gu at around 7pm on Dec 10, after attending a rally held nearby.
“It wasn’t even a VIP place. It was just a foodcourt. I didn’t do anything, but they acted like that just because I was wearing a union vest. That’s hatred towards unions and workers,” Mr Lee told a local news outlet.
He said they argued with the employee for about 10 minutes, and that some union members left the area.
For its part, the department store said that the employee restricted Lee from wearing his union vest because other customers might feel uncomfortable, according to news reports.
The store apologised to the union members, saying, “We will revise our customer service guidelines to prevent similar cases from recurring.” -- THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
