In the upper photo, a middle manager of video display division Park Jong-tae laid off from Samsung Electronincs is close to tears during a press conference at the MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society in Seoul, Dec. 27.

Park contended that the company management fired him after he posted an article on the company's computer network to call for organization of a labor union. He added that he was forced to stay alone in an office for a month as he refused to go on business abroad.

However, the company said that he was laid off because of accumulated failures to fulfill the instructions, not related to organization of labor union.

In the lower photo, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee holds hands with his wife as they exit a building with their family.