Lim Sang-hoon, left, and Kwon Soo-hang stand in front of the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office in Jung District, Seoul, on May 30. Korea Times photo by Song Ju-yong
Kwon Soo-hang, a 33-year-old hairstylist in Daegu who asked to be identified by a pseudonym, showed his hands, their skin damaged and peeling.
“My skin barrier broke down from repeated exposure to perm solution, and it became difficult even to bend my fingers,” he said.
In November 2022, Kwon began working at a major hair salon franchise with hundreds of locations nationwide. At first, it seemed like the breakthrough he had waited for over a decade-long career, one that began at 18 with sweeping salon floors. But the job soon turned into something else: long hours, workplace abuse and little legal protection.
Kwon said the problem began with the freelance contract he signed with the franchise salon.
