Hanwha Ocean has vowed to pursue legal measures after members of a shipbuilding subcontractors' union occupied cranes at its Geoje plant in South Gyeongsang, the company said following a report by reports on 1 October 2026.
The action involved the Geoje-Tongyeong-Goseong shipbuilding subcontractors' branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union and was described by Hanwha Ocean as an illegal occupation and sit-in targeting cranes at the company's facility on Geoje island.
Company response
According to the report, Hanwha Ocean said it would respond strictly in accordance with the law to the occupation and sit-in, signalling that the company intends to seek remedies through legal channels rather than resolve the matter solely by negotiation.
The company's statement as summarised by reports framed the occupation as unlawful and indicated an imminent legal reaction, though the report did not set out specific court actions or timelines announced by Hanwha Ocean.
Union action
The Geoje-Tongyeong-Goseong branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union told the press it intends to press for joint bargaining with Hanwha Ocean; the published account did not elaborate further on the union's demands or on whether other organisations were to be involved in any collective bargaining approach.
The union branch's move to occupy cranes was presented in the report as part of a bargaining dispute with Hanwha Ocean, and the episode has been framed by the parties in legal and industrial terms rather than as a resolved negotiation.
Stakes and next steps
The published account makes clear that both sides have taken firm positions: Hanwha Ocean has condemned the occupation as illegal and has pledged to seek enforcement through courts, while the union branch has escalated its bargaining tactics by occupying plant equipment.
The report does not describe any immediate resolution, arrests, damage to plant equipment, or wider disruption beyond the occupation of the cranes, and it does not record any scheduled talks or mediation between Hanwha Ocean and the union branch at the time of publication.
The unfolding situation at Geoje will be watched by employers and unions in Korea's shipbuilding supply chain for indications of how industrial disputes over subcontractors and collective bargaining will be handled, but the reports item remains the principal source for the details summarised here.
Hanwha Ocean's legal warning and the union branch's stated intention to seek joint bargaining mark a sharp phase in a bargaining dispute that, according to the published report dated 1 October 2026, centres on access to company plant equipment and the unions' tactics to press claims.
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