~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2000]
[Year 2001]

Vietnam police investigate south korean over alleged beating

HANOI - Vietnamese police have launched an investigation of a South Korean employer who allegedly beat his Vietnamese employee unconscious, a police officer said Wednesday. Um Yoon-sang, deputy director of the South Korean-invested Ladies Born company, is accused of hitting a company guard in the face and stomach during a quarrel after Um returned late at night to his residence in the factory compound April 22. Um complained that the gate hadn't been properly locked, police said.

The guard, Nguyen Thanh Bien, was unconscious after the quarrel and was taken to a hospital by other employees, the police officer said. He said police in the Long Khanh district of Dong Nai province met on Monday with provincial prosecutors, trade union and labor department officials to discuss how to handle the case. They agreed that Um must sign a pledge not to leave his residence while the investigation is underway and pay $10,000 in bail, he said. These measures will be implemented later this week, he said. Police in Long Khanh took Um's passport last week, he added.

Company officials said Um wasn't available for comment Wednesday and he didn't answer his mobile telephone. Ladies Born company, established in 1993, produces handbags, belts and wallets and employs 700 workers. It has violated several Vietnamese laws, said Le Luu Luyen of the provincial Trade Union. The company didn't sign labor contracts with many workers, didn't pay compulsory social insurance, and workers were forced to eat their meals in makeshift dining rooms, he said. Luyen said the company withheld 5% of workers' salaries for social insurance, but never paid the amount to the social insurance company or the 15% of salaries the company is supposed to contribute.

The Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper reported Wednesday that Um visited Bien's house three times to ask that he drop the law suit with offers of 7 million dong ($1=VND14,568), VND10 million and VND12 million, but Bien refused. The police officer said it would take several weeks to complete the investigation.

The Associated Press - May 9, 2001.