Anchor: Despite strong opposition from its labor union, a plan to split up Hyundai Heavy Industries to accommodate an acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering was approved by shareholders. Labor opposition nearly derailed the vote on Friday morning, but the meeting was ultimately convened and the plan passed.
Choi You Sun has the details.

Report: Shareholders of Hyundai Heavy Industries voted overwhelmingly in favor of the company's restructuring plan despite fierce opposition from the company's labor union.

With union members occupying the initial meeting venue at a community center in the southeastern city of Ulsan in protest since Monday, the meeting was abruptly relocated to a gymnasium at the University of Ulsan under police protection.

Under the approved plan, a subholding company will be spun off from Hyundai Heavy Industries as an initial step in the merger process with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. Two board members of the proposed subholding firm were approved in the first ten minutes of the meeting.

The union, which eventually learned about the changed venue and tried to obstruct the voting process, scuffled with company staff outside the gymnasium.

The union said it will seek legal action to nullify the shareholders' decision, claiming that its shareholding members were not informed of the new venue in advance.

Hyundai Heavy workers claim the restructuring would lead to massive debt and job cuts. The firm, meanwhile, says it will guarantee its workers' job security.

In a bid to raise its company value and output capacity, Hyundai Heavy signed a deal in March worth an estimated two trillion won with rival Daewoo Shipbuilding’s largest shareholder, the state-run Korea Development Bank, to acquire the ship maker.

According to industry data, last year's combined order backlog of Hyundai Heavy and Daewoo Shipbuilding accounted for 21-point-two percent of the worldwide total.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.