i′s the summer of 1998. Clouds hang over Hyundai Motors Company′s Ulsan Plant Ddomestic slump in the wake of the economic crisis, combined with shrinkage in the world to market, the leading enterprise in the Korean auto industry is forced to restructure. Focusing on the massive layoff of production line laborers, Hyundai′s reorganization crashes into strong opposition from workers led by the labor union. Farewell to the Factory chronicles the labor union′s five-month long struggle, highlighting the troubled relationship between labor and management, as well as painful images of workers leaving their beloved factory, now in limbo. The union′s alternative proposal is to reduce laborer′s working hours while maintaining their employment status. Losing a job in a country with a feeble social security plan means the end of one′s career, especially during the economic crisis. The repeal of the lifetime employment plan a, key in the relationship between labor and management in Korea, brings sudden disturbances to the labor field. Discouragement and uncertainty about the loss of their jobs suppress the livelihood from the workplace, taking away workers′ humor. An indifferent narrative structure, drawn up from the visit log, and camerawork inspecting the factories from the inside out, present the sorrow of just-fired workers from closeup. With the head of labor union unable to speak as he is forced to push back its history, the shivering hands of a woman cutting her determined husband′s hair, we are asked to re-examine the laborers′ position within the realm of Korean economic policy. (Nam In-Young)