Home > National > Social Affairs

Incheon Airport's security workers refuse overtime during the Chuseok holiday

Published: 02 Oct. 2025, 16:30

The departure hall of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport bustles with travelers on the morning of Oct. 2 ahead of the Chuseok holiday. [KIM KYOUNG-ROK]

Incheon International Airport, Korea's main gateway, is expected to experience aggravated passenger congestion during the upcoming extended Chuseok holiday, as the union of airport security screening workers decided Thursday not to work overtime during the holiday, demanding improved working conditions and an increase in manpower.

About 2.45 million people are expected to use Incheon Airport during this year's unusually long Chuseok holiday that lasts seven days starting Friday, according to Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC). The average daily passenger count will be 223,000, an increase of 11.5 percent compared with last year's Chuseok holiday, it noted.

But the union of airport security screening workers, who belong to Incheon International Airport Security, an affiliate of IIAC, said they have scrapped a plan to deploy additional personnel to ease congestion during the holiday period and decided instead to work at the usual level.

In principle, airport security screening workers are prohibited from participating in strikes under the current law. But they are determined not to work overtime until the Oct. 11-12 weekend, including the busy Chuseok holiday, effectively creating a strike effect. They initially planned to deploy 40 to 50 additional workers per day.

Meanwhile, unionized workers at 15 airports nationwide, including Incheon Airport, staged their indefinite strikes for the second consecutive day Thursday.

About 2,000 workers in charge of terminal cleaning and operations, traffic management, firefighting and mechanical facility management walked out on the day, and some 1,000 workers took part in a rally held outside Incheon Airport's Terminal 1, calling for better working conditions and staff increases.

IIAC and Korea Airports Corp. said there has been no major disruption to passenger check-in or aircraft operations so far.

Yonhap