CINA

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..to learn more about the schedule, please check out here:

http://antigizi.or.kr/zboard/zboard.php?id=notice&no=601

Some days ago(7.19) Yonhap was writing this about the planned rally:

Anti-U.S. activists to stage more mass rallies this weekend

About 2,000 activists plan to stage rallies again this weekend to oppose plans to expand a U.S. military base south of Seoul, police said Wednesday.

In May, thousands of anti-U.S. activists and farmers clashed with riot police for several days as the enlargement of Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, will require several farming villages there to be leveled.

The protests emerged as the most violent anti-U.S. rallies in recent years, with hundreds of activists and police injured and several hundred more activists briefly detained.

Saturday's demonstration is aimed at urging the U.S. military to scrap its base expansion plan and persuading the South Korean authorities to release activists jailed due to earlier protests held in May, organizers said.

Police said they plan to barricade major roads in Pyeongtaek to prevent protesters from marching through the city.

Meanwhile, pro-U.S. civic groups and merchants in Pyeongtaek said they would hold counter-rallies to help the U.S. military proceed with its base enlargement plan as scheduled.

Camp Humphreys is being expanded in order to accommodate the U.S. Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division near the border with North Korea and other small U.S. bases over the next few years. The plan is part of the U.S. Global Posture Review aimed at transforming its fixed military installations worldwide into more agile and rapid response forces.

The U.S. currently stations 30,000 troops in South Korea, but the troop level is to be reduced to 25,000 by 2008.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20060719/610000000020060719172138E1.html

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Today in the morning(KST), under the threat of massive state terror - the gov't predicted yesterday "bloodshed" - the striking construction workers in Pohang were forced to give up their current struggle.. But the struggle in general isnt't over!!

Hankryoreh, Yonhap reported today following:

Unionized workers voluntarily end sit-in strike at POSCO
 
Unionized workers voluntarily ended their strike at the headquarters of POSCO, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker, on Friday after their union disintegrated, police said.

About 2,400 construction workers hired by POSCO's subcontractors had holed up for eight days at the head office in the southeastern port city of Pohang, about 370 kilometers from Seoul, demanding higher pay and better working conditions.

On Thursday night, the union workers started leaving the 12-story POSCO building after riot police raided it to disperse them. All workers left the building as of around 4:00 a.m. on Friday, according to police.

Police crackdown brings end to week-long strike at POSCO

A police crackdown on striking workers at the head office of POSCO in this industrial city early Friday ended an eight-day demonstration that has disrupted the operations of the nation's leading steelmaker, local police said.

"We have arrested around 120 unionized workers, including their leaders holed up in the office, who remained there in defiance of our demand that they disband voluntarily," police said. "Eight others will also face criminal charges for disrupting POSCO's operations."
The arrests were made during a predawn raid that did not involve serious clashes. Police officers forced their way into the head office after union leaders refused to end their industrial unrest.
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20060721/410200000020060721095843E6.html

Korea Times will publish in its tomorrow's edition following:

POSCO Seeks Damage Suit Against Strikers
 
The police have arrested around 120 striking construction workers of subcontractors for POSCO, including 21 union leaders for their illegal nine-day occupation of the company’s headquarters in Pohang, North Kyongsang Province.

POSCO CEO Lee Ku-taek said the world’s fourth largest steel maker would file civil and criminal charges against the strikers for their illegal occupation of the head office, property damage and disruption of operations.

POSCO estimated that it sustained over 200 billion (about ($210 million) in lost production due to paralyzed operations. POSCO shares have fallen about 5 percent since the strike began.

The police said it issued an arrest warrant for Lee Ji-kyong, head of the regional industrial union of the construction workers. The police took the detained workers to nearby police stations for investigation. They said the leaders would face legal charges for violence and unlawful occupation.

The workers occupying the headquarters ended their nine-day strike early yesterday morning following the arrests.

The striking workers began to come out of the building around 10 p.m. Thursday, and all 1,532 workers there left the site by 5 a.m. yesterday, the police said.

On July 13, 2,435 workers occupied the building, demanding better working conditions, but 905 of them had deserted the strike before the collapse of the occupation Thursday night.

At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, leaders of the workers sent a written message to the police saying that they would voluntarily disperse if the authorities promised not to punish them or claim damage. Some of the workers began to remove barricades that they had set up inside the 12-story building.

One hour later, however, the workers changed their mind and set up the barricades again, following opposition by hard-line workers and a rumor that the authorities would take legal action against them.

The police kept up efforts to persuade them to leave, saying that they would be allowed home after a brief period of questioning.

Workers who were tired of the nine-day strike left the building of their own accord in groups of 30 to 40 amid the internal disputes between moderate and hard-line workers _ the leaders lost control and the illegal strike was finally broken up.

Twenty-four of the 30 construction projects POSCO has been working on were stopped during the strike causing about 10 billion won in losses per day.

It is expected to take more time for POSCO employees to start normal operations as many office fixtures and facilities in the building have been damaged.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, an umbrella union of the construction workers, said a similar strike could take place again unless POSCO solved the underlying problems workers face with subcontractors.

 http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200607/kt2006072115245611950.htm

JoongAng Ilbo is writing this:

137 strikers in custody as sit-in at Posco ends after 9-day siege
 

The sit-in at the Posco headquarters building here ended early yesterday when most of the striking construction workers slowly filed out of the 12-story building between 11 p.m. Thursday and 4 a.m. yesterday. After the strikers who left willingly had made their way out, police entered the upper floors of the building and removed about 30 leaders of the nine-day protest and others still in the building.

There had been signs earlier Thursday evening that the saga was nearly over; but the evacuation began only after conflicting announcements from the strikers of their intentions. Beginning an hour before midnight, some of the estimated 1,500 strikers began leaving in groups of 20 or 30; at midnight, those still inside began removing chairs blocking stairwells and filed out. At about 1 a.m., a group of 300 left the building together.

By 4 a.m., most of the protesters had left. They were interrogated briefly by police, and were released after signing statements promising to appear for further questioning later. The leaders who were seized by police inside the building are being held in custody. They included Lee Ji-gyeong, the head of the union on strike against construction companies under contract to Posco. The union, after talks with the contractors broke down, took their grievances to Posco, which had also provided temporary workers to replace the strikers.

Riot police had made sporadic efforts to evict the strikers by force, but were repulsed with boiling water and flamethrowers fashioned from pipes attached to gas canisters. Eight police were reported injured in the assaults over the earlier four days.
A sizeable number of the strikers left the building after the first police assault Sunday night, in which four policemen suffered burns. The leaders of the sit-in barred the departure of groups beginning Wednesday, allowing only individuals who complained of health problems to leave. But by Thursday evening, most of the workers had had enough.
At 6:10 a.m. yesterday, police declared the incident over. They had deployed 8,000 riot and other police to the scene, and said 137 workers had been taken into custody. They had obtained court warrants to arrest 21 union leaders, 17 of whom were reportedly in custody yesterday.

Posco said it would file civil and criminal charges against the union; its Seoul office is reviewing its options and estimating the assets owned by the union and its members, who are individually liable under Korean law for damage during an illegal strike...

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200607/21/200607212233259539900090409041.html 

But - believe it or not - the final battle against exploitation and oppression will come ..sooner or later!!

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The threat of state terror is following

by psycho-war in the media

JoongAng Ilbo's today's edition writes following:

Posco strike off, then it's back on again in 8th day
 
Workers said they needed to have a guarantee they wouldn't be sued

Striking workers told police yesterday they would voluntarily end their eight-day occupation of Posco's headquarters in Pohang, but then quickly retracted the decision.
About 9 p.m. last night, workers began putting back barricades and told police they would not leave the building.

 
A labor union leader inside the building told the JoongAng Ilbo late last night that the construction workers had promised to leave the building on one main condition: a guarantee that they would not be sued for their actions.

However, their employer, the Korean Specialty Contractors Association, then told them that the issue was not negotiable. That's when the approximately 1,000 workers in the building decided to stay.

It had been a tumultuous day. In the morning, the government vowed to use the necessary force to remove the laborers. They also vowed stern punishments for the people involved in the takeover, in North Gyeongsang province.

"Posco is not a negotiation partner of the labor union," Labor Minister Lee Sang-soo said yesterday morning. "It is hard to understand why the union is insisting on negotiating with Posco."

 
During the day, a split in the union appeared to worsen. Labor union leaders barred workers from leaving the building, fearing an exodus, according to police, quoting workers who were questioned after secretly making their way out.

A 53-year-old worker who climbed down an elevator cable yesterday morning while others were sleeping said those who wanted to leave the building had scuffled with union leaders. He said his initial attempt to leave the building with 18 other workers was stopped by others wielding wooden sticks, so he went out alone.

 
Another escapee said the union leaders had been trying to calm the agitated workers. "Many of them worried that they might lose their union membership if they got out after the situation was resolved, and eventually lose their jobs," he said.

 
About 7:30 p.m., some of the workers began removing the barricades from inside the building, after the leadership of the construction workers' labor union provided a written statement to the police that "We all will come down. Please show leniency to all the union members and let them return to their families."

The occupation and strike has cost Posco an estimated 80 billion won ($84 million) as of yesterday, said Ha Dae-ryong, a company spokesman.

The strike began in June, against the contractors association. The 2,500 unionized workers, who have been constructing 24 new production facilities for Posco, sought higher wages and a five-day work week.

On July 11, Posco notified police that the labor union was obstructing its business. Two days later, the angry workers marched to Posco's headquarters building and occupied it.
Posco turned off electricity and air conditioning in the building Tuesday and cut off water yesterday.

The police also released yesterday video footage showing strikers blocking riot policemen from entering the building Tuesday, with some using flame throwers made from liquefied petroleum gas containers, rubber hoses and steel pipes against riot police trying to enter the building. Eight riot policemen sustained burns during the failed attempt to enter the building, the police said. It was unclear if any of the strikers were injured during the confrontation.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200607/20/200607202240367509900090409041.html 

Chosun Ilbo is writing:

Fears of Bloodshed as Gov’t Vows to Break Up POSCO Strike

..

The striking construction workers.. vowed to fight to the end. The Pohang branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions told reporters it had “no choice but to fight to the death” if Cheong Wa Dae is intent on breaking up the strike by force. That has led to fears of bloodshed when police move in to quell the strike, which they are expected to do on Friday or Saturday.

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200607/200607200014.html