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The powerful workers union at Korea Electric Power Corp. is facing a leadership dispute, which may drag out government efforts to privatize the state-run utility.

The incident was triggered by a faction within the union requesting a court injunction barring over 100 union officials, who were brought into office through a vote among a small circle of leaders at the workers group.

A spokesman for the company's union said yesterday that a court injunction ruling is due this week.

"Should the court issue an injunction, KEPCO's union will be led by an acting head for the time being, until a new one is elected," the spokesman said.

However, the current leadership committee at KEPCO's union and a conflicting faction within the union have selected different candidates for the top position.

The dispute at KEPCO was preceded by a similar squabble at a national railroad workers union. In that case a district court ruled that a union head must be brought into office through a union-wide election process.

Union workers at the state-run utility sought a court injunction since 108 of the 245 labor group officials were put into office without taking part in a union-wide vote.

The union spokesman said a new round of votes is scheduled for later this month.