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It is just a shame for us that we were not able to kick out this reformist, corrupt... criminal gang last March, when we all had the possibility... Here the first bourgeois (and be sure they will be happy about it!!!) voice about it in today's Korea Times: Union Leaders to Resign Over Corruption Scandal By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Lee Soo-ho, right, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), answers a question from lawmakers during the parliamentary inspection on the Ministry of Labor at the National Assembly in Yoido, Tuesday. Lee and other KCTU leaders said that they will step down in January over a series of corruption scandals plaguing the nation’s second largest umbrella labor group. /Yonhap Leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Tuesday decided to resign en masse in January over a series of corruption scandals, dealing a serious blow to the nation’s labor movement. South Korea’s second largest umbrella group said during a press conference that its leaders, including president Lee Soo-ho, will step down next year after fixing pending issues by the end of this year. It then plans to hold an election to select a new group of leaders to run the union for the next three years. Lee pledged not to run for any leadership positions, taking responsibility for a bribery scandal surrounding one of its vice presidents. The decision was made at an emergency meeting with representatives of local braches and other high-ranking officials, aimed at mapping out follow-up measures, one day after Lee voluntarily suspended his post. ``I take full responsibility for the bribery scandal as the president and sincerely apologize for it, ’’ Lee said. KCTU vice president Kang Seung-kyu was arrested last Friday for allegedly taking 81 million won ($78,000) in bribes from taxi unions. The prosecution claimed Kang received 51 million won in bribes from Park Bok-gyu, chairman of the National Taxi Transportation Union Association, and other executives of the taxi operators’ group in return for influence peddling. The KCTU also decided to launch an internal investigation into vice president Kang and set up an internal surveillance system to strengthen ethics among high-ranking union officials and monitor changes in their assets. ``While in office, I will make effort to reform the organization by cleaning up past wrongdoings of union representatives,’’ Lee said. He added that the umbrella union plans to launch countermeasures against the government attempt to gain parliamentary approval for a bill on non-regular workers, which it claims will further reduce job security. Since the beginning of the year, many union members have been implicated in corruption cases, dealing a severe blow to the KCTU that boasts 619,200 members from 744 unions. They were accused of embezzling union funds, taking kickbacks from businesses and accepting bribes from jobseekers in return for employment. The nation's largest umbrella labor union, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), has also gotten into the worst crisis in its 59-year history as its former leader was arrested in May for taking kickbacks from a construction firm in a high-profile corruption scandal. A Seoul district court yesterday sentenced FKTU president Lee Nam-soon to 18 months in prison and 220 million won in fines for accepting about 200 million won ($200,000) in kickbacks from a contractor in return for a building project for a union welfare center in Yoido, Seoul. ``A series of corruption scandals resulted from the lack of a transparent internal audit system inside unions to prevent their representatives from conducting illegal practices for personal gains,’’ said Bae Kiu-sik, research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute. Bae added that even though the scandals may have damaged unions, it is a good opportunity to clean up bad practices and make the organization a more democratic one.