Tens of thousands of consumers have signed an online petition denouncing “aristocratic” Hyundai union members, who make $60,000 a year, two times the national mean, and are striking for more. They also criticize Hyundai chairman Chung Mong Ku, who appealed a three-year jail term he received last week for embezzlement and breach of trust. Many Koreans still hold dear traditional values of hard work and honesty. So the patriotism that once fueled Hyundai sales has turned on it. Between the strike and the boycott, Hyundai sales last month fell 2 percent from the previous January, lowering its home market share from 54 to 48 percent. The main beneficiaries were Japanese and European carmakers.
