Songgot

송곳 #2

by Choi Gyu-Seok (Cartoonist)

[The webcomic is based on a true story. The incident occurred from July, 2007 at an Emart retail store. Temporary cashiers were fired, which caused a sit-in protest that lasted for 510 days].

Lee Soo-In has the kind of temperament where he has to do the right thing no matter what. After his discharge from the military, he has worked at a large retail market. One day, his boss orders him to fire temporary employees at the store. Lee Soo-In refuses to do so and decides to join the labor union. He and the temporary employees struggle against unfair dismissals.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Manga, Manhwa

Webcomic

Published December 1, 2013

About the author

See also: 최규석 and Choi Kyu-sok.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

The comic about trying to start a union in a grocery store in South Korea continues. It's not a bad idea, but having this as a comic is SO boring. It's also difficult to follow all of the characters. I think it would work a lot better as a TV show or even prose than it does as a comic.

[Mee Too · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are highly informative… I like data.
The story is also somewhat interesting, I didn’t know Korea had such poor work environments. Meanwhile Americans are bitching about everything. It’s a crazy comparison.


3.6

[Michael Daines · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Awl” volume 2 continues this excellent manhwa series as the workers at the grocery store put in the work to build a union and fight back against corporate greed. It does an excellent job of showing the difficulties involved.

I’ll be picking this up as new volumes get translated into English, and I will probably buy the originals when I’m in Korea, even if I cannot read them.