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1.) It seems that the Wednesday's crackdown attack against migrant workers in Maseok/Namyangju (see my contribution from y'day) is not only aimed on "reducing the number of illegal migrants" (according to the Ministry of 'Justice').. I think there is something much more important behind it!
   The main aim of the LMB gov't are "activities of illegal migrants — including forming a union and protesting to have their immigration status legalized and participating in political protests.." The main goal is the MTU and its destruction, once and for all - as soon as possible!!
   And finally its simply a primitive attempt (by the gov't) to take revenge for the activities of migrant workers in S.K. "as they have unionized and are starting to demand legalization of their status" (as JoongAng Ilbo quoted today a Mo'J' official).

2.) An editorial in today's Hankyoreh demanded:

Stop the crackdowns on migrant workers 

Another indiscriminate crackdown on unregistered migrant workers was started again. The day before yesterday, the Ministry of Justice and police arrested some 130 migrant workers in Gyeonggi Province’s Namyangju City and Yeoncheon County. This brutal crackdown was aimed at achieving tangible results as part of an internal target to arrest and expel some 20,000 unregistered migrant workers by the end of this year.

Some said this crackdown was like a military operation. When police officers sealed off a small street, blocking a group of migrant workers, immigration officials from the Justice Ministry arrested them (*). It is inhumane and goes against human rights. This particular approach is highly likely to cause accidents or injuries. In January, an ethnic Korean migrant worker from China died after falling off an eight-story building to avoid detention during a similar crackdown. In April, a Bangladeshi worker was seriously injured after falling off a three-story building. During the crackdown two days ago, five migrant workers were wounded, including a Cameroonian worker whose ankle was broken. Such a fox hunt, which could cause the death of a worker, should be stopped immediately.

Undocumented migrant workers, estimated to total some 220,000 people in South Korea, lose their legal status as a result of the government’s deplorable policy. Authorities ban migrant workers from moving to other factories, despite the fact that they receive far lower wages than Korean workers. Just when they get used to their work, the work permit system requires that they return to their nations. Unless the government revises the work permit system and discriminatory wage structure, it will be impossible to reduce the number of undocumented migrant workers. With those fundamental problems continually ignored, strengthening the crackdown can’t fix things.

It is time to change our fundamental view of migrant workers. Regardless of their legal status, migrant workers contribute to the society in many ways. They help small and medium-sized businesses, which are struggling with the economic malaise, as well as the areas where they live, by stimulating their local economies. People have the right to live where they want. Undocumented migrant workers should be given legal status, not expelled.

 
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/321805.html

* Almost the same tactics they used in their permanent attempts to arrest us during our (ETU-MB, MSSC) protest rallies/demonstrations between 2002 and 2005...

3.) The conservative/reactionary JoongAng Ilbo published today following article:

Illegal workers injured in Gyeonggi crackdown

Police and the immigration office arrested over 100 illegal immigrants in Namyangju and Yeoncheon in Gyeonggi Province in an aggressive crackdown that is being criticized by human rights groups.

According to the Ministry of Justice, 280 Korea Immigration Service and police officers raided the Maseok industrial park in Namyangju and an industrial area in Yeoncheon County on Wednesday morning. It was the biggest clampdown on illegal migrant workers since President Lee Myung-bak took office.

After surrounding the area so the workers could not escape, the officials entered the factories and dormitories and began checking passports.

A migrant worker from Cameroon tried to escape over a wall but fell and fractured his ankle. Four other workers were also injured.

Those arrested will be sent to a detention center for foreigners and then deported.

“The migrant workers were chased like rabbits and some were injured as they tried to escape,” said Lee Young, a Catholic priest and a senior member of the Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea. “Even a mother with a five-year-old daughter was arrested.”

The Justice Ministry, however, is determined to continue such crackdowns. “There are 700 illegal migrant workers in Maseok industrial park and 200 in Yeoncheon,” it told the press. “We will take stern measures against illegal workers, who are violating the law.”

The crackdown was conducted as part of a plan to reduce the number of illegal workers here. The ministry plans to cut the number to 200,000 from the current 220,000 in a bid to reduce the illegal portion of foreigners in Korea to 10 percent from the current 19.3 percent by 2012.

The ministry said the illegal worker situation has reached a boiling point, as they have unionized and are starting to demand legalization of their status.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2897347

Related article:
☞ Declaration of War - LMB Gov't vs. Migrant Workers