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Korea¡¯s second World Cup match on Monday against France is expected to keep an overwhelming majority up until dawn and beyond since it starts at 4 a.m. local time. Many companies are resigned to the inevitable and will start work later or not at all, while some schools have also declared the day a special holiday.
Staff at online trading site Auction have had an e-mail from the president saying they won¡¯t have to come in until 1 p.m. on Monday. ¡°We rented a whole beer garden near the company the day Korea played against Togo to watch the game together, inviting family as well, and many workers enjoyed it very much,¡± says executive Park Sang-soon. ¡°We thought many will watch the Korea-France match despite the late hour, so we decided to start work in the afternoon.¡±
Sports goods giant Nike also told staff to come to work at 1 p.m. During an after-work dinner on Wednesday, the head of Nike Korea surprised staff by telling them to enjoy the game. Yahoo Korea and Woongjin Coway also postponed the start time until 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. ING Life has told those who want to work from noon to 9 p.m. instead of from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Others took the unusual step of asking staff to come in at 4 in the morning. All the Korean workers of the French chemical firm Arkema will gather in their office in Sogong-dong, Seoul at 4 a.m. There, they will watch the game together in red shirts. Taxi fares are paid for by the president, and the day¡¯s work will be done at 2 p.m. French cosmetics company L¡¯Oreal told the workers to come to the office at 3 a.m., one hour earlier than Arkema. The president himself will rent a bar or a beer garden near the company to watch the game. After that, they will have breakfast together.
Pharmaceuticals firm Yuhan will let some 300 workers at its plant in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province take the day off. Shinsegae Department Store will also close all its branches and have a field day for all its 1,400 workers instead.
Some schools will take the day off, too. The principal of Gwangnam Middle School in Gwangjang-dong, Seoul decided to close the school for the day, so its 1,500 students will be able to enjoy the game without regrets. Korean middle schools can take the equivalent of 10 percent of the total annual class days of 220 off at their discretion, with the permission of the relevant educational office.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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