CINA

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2003.11.30: THE BATTLE OF CHEONGGYECHEON

In the early summer 2003 the then mayor of Seoul Lee Myung-bak - yeah, likely the next president of S. Korea!!! - published his idea to restore the former Choenggyecheon (i.e. Cheonggye Stream). In the 1960s it was filled up and a huge elevator street was built there. Since that time 1970s thousands of street vendors found their daily income by selling goods and food beside the new built Choenggyecheon Street. But after Lee presented his idea (to reconstruct the stream) to the public it was clear that the street vendors there would be the first victims of the project. Because in Lee Myung-bak's plans for the New Cheonggyecheon was definetely no place for poor people - i.e. the street vendors.

And just few months later - after the (now well organized) street vendors appealed, demanded, protested for an acceptable solution of their problems - it became clear that the Lee Myung-bak administration (i.e. the Seoul Metropolitan Gov't) will finally solve this problem by force - the eviction of the street vendors.

Street vendors' protest..

..summer 2003, Cheonggye 8-ga

In late November 2003 the municipality announced that Nov. 30 would be the deadline for the street venors to leave the area..

So in the late hours of Nov. 29 hundreds of street vendors prepared for the (likely) final clash between them and the state power.

Nov. 30, in the early morning hours 5000 riot cops, backing 3000 gangsters (according to independent reports), hired by the Seoul Metropolitan Gov't arrived at the scene (Cheonggyecheon 8-ga). And after some hours of fierce battles between them and few hundred of street vendors, many of them were elderly people, the "state power" "defeated" the resistance..

2003.11.30, 4AM, Cheonggye 8-ga - before the battle

Just one hour later: Criminal gangs, backed by thousands of cops..

..attacked few hundred of street vendor resistance "fighters"

After the battle (2003.11.30, 10AM)

Related video documentaries:

Before the Battle

☞ "청계천을 지켜내자!!" (숲속홍길동同志, 2003.11.16)

☞ [청계천 노점상 생존권 사수 투쟁] 제1부 (숲속홍길동同志)

☞ 30일 새벽, 청계천 한때 불바다.. (참세상TV, 2003.11.30)

☞ [청계천 노점상 생존권 사수 투쟁] 제2부 (숲속홍길동同志)

Related article:

☞ 노숙자 동원한 청계 노점 철거 (Hankyoreh, 2003.11.30)

 
But with the Battle of Cheonggyecheon the "promblem" just began! Only a short time later the Lee Myung-bak administration started with the idea to destroy entire residential areas, located in in the direct neighbourhood, such as Samgak-/Suha-dong..

..led to the eviction of at least one thousand of residents (incl. the complete destruction of their basis of existence):

☞ 자본주의는 반사회적 이다 (철거민 투쟁) (2004.12.12)

☞ 철거민투쟁. (2005.01.11)

☞ "날마다 전쟁" - 삼각, 수하동.. (2005.01.18, 숲속홍길동同志, video docu..)

☞ The Cheonggyecheon Project, #1

☞ The Cheonggyecheon Project, #2

☞ The Cheonggyecheon Project, #3

And last but not least (^^):

☞ Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project (Seoul Metro. Gov't)

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Last week (11.20) in Seoul the new ("NK underground") magazine Rimjingang has been presented to the public. Today DailyNK published (the first part) of an interview with Jiro Ishimaru (Asia Press, Japan), one of the main organizers/founders of the Rimjingang project:

North Korean Underground Journalists

and the "Rimjingang"

   
Mr. Jiro, who has been collecting data on North Korea since the.. 1990s, said that “The media is a kind of social infrastructure for making a democratic society. Therefore, I think it is necessary to fertilize North Korean society with the seed of journalism.”

Mr. Jiro also said, “I was very concerned about establishing a media source within North Korea, as it is really dangerous. However, the North Korean reporters insisted that they need a means of informing the North Korean civilians about news from the outside world as well, saying that ‘We will never get out of this delapitated state if there is no such thing as independent media.'”

- What is the purpose of publishing the "Rimjingang"?

Firstly, the purpose is to plant the seed of journalism. It is the demands of time that spurs on North Korea’s necessity for independent journalism. Media is indeed an essential element in creating a democratic society. The outside world must know what is taking place inside North Korea, and it is the insiders that must release this information to the outside world.

Secondly, North Korean underground journalists need some medium for their journalism activities. Thus far, North Korean residents have released inside information as messengers for South Korean or international newspapers. With the establishment of Rimjingang, they can now release more accurate and up-to-date information directly through their own medium and their own articles.

Lastly, I wanted to establish a path of communication between the North Koreans and the South Koreans.

- It does not sound like an easy task to educate North Korean citizens to be journalists..

I have been collecting data on North Korea since the 1990s. However, North Korea was so secured that foreigners could not easily enter North Korea and gather information freely. I eventually thought to establish some contacts inside North Korea for this purpose.

In the beginning, I needed someone to inform me of inside stories and to take photographs, but later I decided to educate them as professional journalists.

Finally, in 2002 I met Lee Joon, a North Korean citizen aimed at doing something to change North Korean society. I started educating him in the field of journalism, and soon after, he began reporting on news happening inside the country. Since 2004, he has been capturing video footage as well.

From that point on, he began educating North Korean youth in order to create a new trend of journalism. His students are the current reporters of “Rimjingang.”

- Can you give me a detailed description of the other reporters?

There is no one from the privileged class. They are simply urban residents who are well-educated, ordinary North Korean citizens who understand the value of this information.

Those who I have educated in China have entered North Korea, organized and educated people who wanted to participate in our activities. New reporters occasionally visit China to keep a relationship with other reporters. There are several groups of reporters. They cannot be mobilized at the same time for the sake of security.

They are working around Pyongyang and the central districts of different provinces. Those in border areas must take extra precautions because the surveillance near the border has recently become very strict.

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk02500&num=2970

Related:

☞ 지하 잡지 '림진강' (11.22)

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STATE TERROR AGAINST MTU!!

Today KCTU issued following appeal for Int'l solidarity with MTU:

Urgent Call for the Release of MTU Leaders!
Stop Crackdown on Migrant Workers!

Migrants’ Trade Union Leadership Arrested on November 27th.
Stop the Repression against KCTU affiliate Migrants’ Trade Union!
Free President Kajiman and other Imprisoned Union Officers!
Stop the Crackdown and Deportations!

1. Background

On the morning of November 27, MTU President Kajiman, Vice President Raju and General Secretary Masum were arrested, in what was clearly a targeted crackdown against the leadership of MTU. We, the KCTU and the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants’ Trade Union call on the international labor and human rights community to do whatever in their power to secure the release of the MTU leadership and end this labor repression against MTU.

At roughly 9:20am on November 27, President Kajiman was leaving his home in order to attend a plan protest in front of Seoul Immigration Office (*) when he was confronted by more than 10 immigration officers who had been hiding in front of his house. The immigration officers restrained the Korean activist with President Kajiman and then encircled the president. After protesting strongly, President Kajiman was eventually arrested, his shoulder hurt in the process.

General Secretary Masum also left his house the morning of the 27 in order to attend the protest in front of Seoul Immigration. As he walked down the street he was passed by four 4 large men who were laughing amongst themselves. He originally did not pay attention to them; however, immediately after roughly 10 immigration officers came up from behind him. He was suddenly surrounded by nearly 20 people and despite protesting was eventually arrested.

 
At roughly the same time Vice President Raju was confronted by 4 immigration officers in front of the factory where he worked. Upon seeing the vice president, the immigration officers immediately attempted to handcuff him, but failed due to his forceful protest. When Vice President Raju demanded to see the officers’ identification cards, they presented them along with a prepared detention order. Despite his protests the vice president was also eventually arrested.

 
Soon after all three men were sent to a detention center in Cheongju, Northern Choongjeong Province, south of the capital Seoul...

For the full statement/appeal, incl. a sample protest letter to the MoJ please read:
http://nodong.org/bbs//view.php?id=eng_action&no=53

Also today the "left"-liberal daily newspaper Hankyoreh published following editorial:

Stop the crackdown on migrant workers
 

Another reckless crackdown on migrant workers is underway. Yesterday three key officers in the Migrants’ Trade Union (Iju Nodongja Nodong Johap) were taken away by immigration agents. The three were clearly targeted. Just the other day two ethnic Koreans from China jumped off the roof of a Chinese speaking church in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, while trying to ditch agents there to arrest them, who then broke their legs and ankles. For how much longer is the government going to continue this inhumane crackdown?

The reason the government is going after foreign laborers with such zeal is said to be because of the rapid increase in the number of undocumented migrant workers. This kind of ruthless crackdown, however, is as bad a policy as one could have. There are said to be some 230,000 undocumented migrant laborers in Korea; is the government going to continue this way until it has grabbed them all?

An even greater problem is that earlier this month the government revised the Immigration Law to allow agents to question foreigners based on suspicion alone, without regard to time and place, further angering migrant workers. It is not that one cannot understand wanting to provide in the law some tools to work with while enforcing it, but it is a problem when the law just gives agents wide-ranging authority and includes no stipulations on procedures.

A law governing the national police requires that a police officer present identification and identify himself when stopping someone for questioning. Similarly, at the very least, immigration officials need to be required to prove who they are. It was in 2005 that the National Human Rights Commission officially recommended that immigration be given clear conditions, parameters on authority, and procedures for arresting illegal aliens.

Has the government already forgotten the appeal and recommendation issued by their Korean brethren in Germany? Eleven Koreans who went as migrant workers to Germany 30 to 40 years ago issued a statement earlier this month in which they said “all migrants should be recognized as members of society and granted rights that correspond to residents.” The government needs to take this suggestion into consideration and reexamine its proposed revision to the Immigration Law, then come up with a reasonable policy alternative that, instead of being all about cracking down, is enough to make our society feel some sense of pride about our immigration policies.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/253237.html

Related statements, articles, videos..(in Korean):

☞ 이주노조 지도부 연행 경과 및 현황 (MTU)

☞ [기자회견문]이주노동자노동조합 까지만.. (KCTU)

☞ 이주노조 지도부 줄줄이 연행 (VoP)

☞ 출입국, "불법이니 단속하라 했다" (참세상, article)

☞ 이주노조 간부 표적연행 규탄 (참세상TV, video)

☞ 노골적인 이주노조 말살 정책의 시작인가? (MWTV, video)

☞ 이주노조 집행부 표적 연행.. (이주노동자방송국, video)

* [11월 27일] 이주노조 집행부 표적 연행 규탄 집회 (다함께)

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STATE TERROR AGAINST MTU!!

Since the establishment of the MTU in spring 2005 migrant workers in S. Korea and their supporters in labour unions, (left) political organizations, human right and civic groups are struggling against its (MTU's) oppression by the government (i.e. the MoJ, Immigration authority, police).
Now, short before the current gov't must give up its "power" (next month a new president will be elected), it seems that the Roh Moo-hyun administration wants to close the "MTU file" - by FORCE!(*) It - most likely - means that the gov't just wants to smash MTU by arresting (and deporting) the leading activists of the organization.

MWTV reported today about following latest alarming development: "In the midst of the increasing crackdown on migrant workers, MTU (Migrant Worker's Trade Union) President (Kajiman), Vice president (Raju) and General Secretary (Masum) were all arrested at 9:30 am this morning (November 27) in front of their homes/workplaces.  They were arrested without any formal charges and are being held at detention center in Cheongju.."

Kajiman, Raju and Masum in Cheongju Immigration Detention Center

(source: 이주노동자방송국, 11.27)

The fact that the arrested comrades were transfered to Cheongju - far away from Seoul, where the majority of MTU's activists and their supporters are based - proves that this may be a first - or "better" the final - deadly attack against the migrant workers' movement in S.K.

Detailed infos about it you can read here (in Korean): 

☞ 이주노조 위원장 까지만,서울지부장 라주 오늘 아침 표적 단속! (MTU)

☞ 출입국, 이주노조에 또 “표적 단속”했나 (참세상)

☞ 불법체류 ‘토끼몰이 단속’ 여전 (한겨레)

☞ “이주노조에 대한 탄압에 저항하며 끝까지 싸울 것” (이주노동자방송국)

Solidarity statements:

대통령 선거전 첫날, 이주노조 임원 전원연행!

by 전국비정규노조연대회의

이주노동자 운동 지도자 구금과 추방 강력히 규탄한다!

by 민주노동당

노무현정부의 이주노동자 운동 와해 책동을 강력 규탄한다!

by 사회진보연대

까지만·라주·마숨 동지를 즉각 석방하라

by 다함께

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Uri Avneri, the "grandfather" of the Israeli peace movement, on the eve of the Middle East "Peace" Conference - starting and also ending tomorrow in Annapolis(USA) - wrote following article/analysis:

THE ANNAPOLIS conference is a joke.

Though not in the least funny.
 

Like quite a lot of political initiatives, this one too, according to all the indications, started more or less by accident. George Bush was due to make a speech. He was looking for a theme that would give it some substance. Something that would divert attention away from his fiascos in Iraq and Afghanistan. Something simple, optimistic, easy to swallow.

Somehow, the idea of a "meeting" of leaders to promote the Israeli-Palestinian "process" came up. An international meeting is always nice - it looks good on television, it provides plenty of photo-opportunities, it radiates optimism. We meet, ergo we exist.

So Bush voiced the idea: a "meeting" for the promotion of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Without any preceding strategic planning, any careful preparations, anything much at all.

That's why Bush did not go into any details: no clear aim, no agenda, no location, no date, no list of invitees. Just an ethereal meeting. This fact by itself testifies to the lack of seriousness of the entire enterprise.

This may shock people who have never seen close up how politics are actually conducted. It is hard to accept the intolerable lightness with which decisions are often made, the irresponsibility of leaders and the arbitrary way important processes are set in motion.

FROM THE MOMENT this idea was launched, it could not be called back. The President has spoken, the initiative starts on its way. As the saying goes: One fool throws a stone into the water, a dozen wise men cannot retrieve it.

Once the "meeting" had been announced, it became an important enterprise. The experts of all parties started to work frantically on the undefined event, each trying to steer it in the direction which would benefit them the most.

Bush and Condoleezza Rice want an impressive event, to prove that the United States is vigorously promoting peace and democracy, and that they can succeed where the great Henry Kissinger failed. Jimmy Carter failed to turn the Israeli-Egyptian peace into an Israeli-Palestinian peace. Bill Clinton failed at Camp David. If Bush succeeds where all his illustrious predecessors have failed, won't that show who is the greatest of them all?

 
Ehud Olmert urgently needs a resounding political achievement in order to blur the memory of his dismal failure in the Second Lebanon War and to extricate himself from the dozen or so criminal investigations for corruption that are pursuing him. His ambition knows no bounds: he wants to be photographed shaking the hand of the King of Saudi Arabia. A feat no Israeli prime minister before him has achieved.

 
Mahmoud Abbas wants to show Hamas and the rebellious factions in his own Fatah movement that he can succeed where the great Yasser Arafat failed - to be accepted among the world's leaders as an equal partner.

 
This could, therefore, become a great, almost historic conference, if …

Please read the full article here:
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1195337091

Related articles:

☞ Palestinian official: Israelis aren't serious (Yedioth..)

☞ Hamas: Abbas' policy failed, dangerous (..Ahronoth/IL, 11.27)

☞ The Real Two-state Solution (Der Spiegel/D, 11.26 MUST READ!!)

☞ Children of the Palestinian intifada.. (IHT, 3.11)

☞ Groups promise 'rocket rain' (Ynet/IL)

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About the first (provisionally) "defeat" by the French working class, in particular the railway workers (after nine days of strike), in their struggle against Sarkozy's "reform" plans The Guardian (UK) published y'day following article:

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Already last week (11.13) Der Spiegel (German bourgeois magazine) published following - in my opinion not uninteresting - article:

A Pearl Harbor without War

The dollar crisis has politicians alarmed worldwide. The US currency has lost 24 percent of its value since the introduction of the euro, and now there is even a chance that China could abandon its policy of pegging its currency to the dollar -- a problem the United States should take very seriously.

What do Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen and the People's Republic of China have in common? The answer, as of last week, is that both distrust the dollar.

Patricia Bündchen, the twin sister and manager of the world's top model, announced that Gisele now prefers to be paid in euros rather than dollars. Almost simultaneously, the Chinese central bank predicted that the dollar is likely to lose its status as the world's leading currency.

One could easily overlook a supermodel's currency preferences, but China is a different story. It's the beast breathing down America's neck.

The most important country in the world for the United States isn't Great Britain, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia or Iraq. China holds that dubious distinction, because it is also the country the US can least do without. Without its willingness to buy an almost unlimited supply of US treasury bonds, there would be no American spending miracle. Without a spending miracle there would be no economic growth. In other words, without China the US superpower would lose a significant share of its economic clout.

So far Beijing has behaved like the benevolent shopkeeper who willingly extends credit to his customers. The Americans receive shipments of Chinese-made television sets, toys and underwear, but the Chinese do not import a comparable volume of US goods. The gap between buying and selling amounts to about $5 billion every week.

The Chinese are satisfied with buying US treasury bonds, partly to keep their most important customer afloat. The central bank in Beijing already holds currency reserves of $1.4 trillion.

The Chinese have looked on with great patience as their best customer has gradually lost its ability to supply goods.

But the men in power in Beijing cannot be indifferent to the dollar's decline. It devalues their central bank's dollar reserves, the monetary embodiment of some of the fruits of China's export machine.

For the United States, a Chinese decision to abandon the dollar would be tantamount to Pearl Harbor without the war. It would represent a challenge to the world's biggest economy by the world's fastest growing economy. Millions of people would see their standard of living suffer as a result, and American self-confidence, already shaky, would crumble even further. The United States would suffer a serious blow on its very own turf, the economy.

Americans can hardly blame Beijing for their troubles. The Chinese aren't exactly kamikaze politicians, concocting some secret plan to attack the dollar. On the contrary, the preparations are taking place in full view. Translated into Texan, what the Chinese politely told the Americans last week simply means: Unless something happens, all hell will break loose.

For years the US economy has suffered one dramatic setback after another. A historic trend reversal began with the rise of the Asian economies -- first Japan, then China and now India. The United States, a once-proud exporting nation, became the world's biggest importer. In only 15 years, from 1992 to 2007, the US balance of trade deficit has surged from $84 billion to $700 billion.

Within a single generation, the world's biggest lender has become its biggest borrower, a circumstance the United States has made no serious attempts to change. And what has been Washington's standard take on the shift? The dollar is our currency, but it's your problem.

Thus, the tone of the US government's callous and thick-skinned reaction to China's announcement last week came as no surprise. There was a reason the dollar became the world's reserve currency, US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said in a slightly offended tone.

But the truth is that the United States would be better off if Paulson and the administration of President George W. Bush would take decisive action instead of sulking. The US's ability to deliver goods should be increased and its industrial base should be reinvigorated. Government and consumer spending, which in reality is doing nothing but eating away at the country's future, should be curbed. Although growth would decline as a result, it would be a more sustainable form of growth.

Last week's remark by a Chinese central bank official should be interpreted as a warning, not a threat. Indeed, China has no choice but to respond, given the dollar's ongoing weakness.

For these reasons, an attack on the US economy is probably the most easily predictable event of the coming years. And if it happens, the attacker will even be able to justify its actions as self-defense.

What is the difference between the US government in 1941 and the administration in Washington today? Perhaps there is none. A Japanese attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor was unimaginable, even though US intelligence had picked up clues that it could happen. Washington, at the time, was convinced that the Japanese wouldn't dare stage an attack on a target 5,000 miles away, and that they wouldn't succeed if they did.

The crews on America's ships were sleeping as the Japanese bombers approached Pearl Harbor.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,517060,00.html

Related articles:

☞ Japanese shift cash out of U.S. investments (IHT, 11.22)

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Before y'day (11.20) during a press conference in Seoul a "North Korean defector" (according to AFP) and his supporters from Asia Press (JP) announced the launch of the ("underground") magazine "Rimjingang" carrying undercover reporting by (DPRK) citizens. Well, that's just the fact..

Secret journalists report on North (JoongAng Ilbo, 11.21)

 
The grainy video featured old women in clothes that hung from their thin frames scrounging for bottles in a market in Pyongyang that they planned to sell to recyclers.

Images like these have been seen before but this footage shown at a press conference in Seoul yesterday is different, according to a Tokyo-based journalist, because it was shot by the first independent reporters to ever work inside North Korea.

Ishimaru Jiru, of the Japan-based Asia Press International, said his group is also launching the first-ever magazine to print independent journalism by North Koreans and about North Koreans. Called Rimjingang, the bi-monthly magazine will be launched this month and distributed in both North and South Korea. It will also be translated into English and Japanese, Jiru said.

“Despite all of the limitations, we will go around every area of North Korea, and we strongly believe in reporting the truth,” he said.

Jiru, who speaks Korean, said he has visited the North Korea-China border more than 50 times and interviewed about 600 defectors. He said the project started out of frustration that he could not report what was happening inside North Korea.
“We wanted to find out what North Koreans thought, what they were doing inside North Korea and what their lives were like,” he said yesterday through an interpreter at the Foreign Correspondents Club. “I came to think we needed someone inside.”

Jiru put the word out and found a North Korean defector in China willing to risk his life to surreptiously shoot video and interview people inside his home country. “Because of the risks, I waited for someone to volunteer,” Jiru said. In 2002, he met a man who calls himself Lee Jun. Jiru explained his idea and Lee returned home to think about it.“The main goal for this reporter was to institute journalism in North Korea,” Jiru said.

Jiru taught his recruit about ethics, and the importance of accuracy. He told him not to accept bribes and he trained Lee on the equipment.

“In 2004, though he wasn’t completely ready, he filmed a marketplace [inside North Korea],” Jiru said. “At first, things weren't perfect. The reports were vague. But as time went by, he became a very good reporter.”

Lee has recruited five other clandestine reporters, Jiru said, and they get help from 10 more inside North Korea. Jiru has given them 30 cameras to use. Since these reporters could face imprisonment or worse if they are captured, they sometimes conduct interviews without telling the interviewees what they are doing, Jiru said.

He said he meets with the reporters when they cross back into China. Jiru said his group is very careful about what information is released, although they have gathered “a very large amount” in the past three years.

He said the North Koreans wanted to start the magazine to bring news to their own people. “It’s also important to let the North Koreans know what is going on in the outside world,” he said.

The magazine will include stories ranging from the general views of North Koreans to their thoughts about Kim Il Sung to crises such as the extensive flooding last August.

“Since the North Korean media is controlled by the government, there isn’t a way for the North Korean people to express themselves,” said Choi Jin I, a North Korean who defected to the South in 1999 and is working with the magazine. “I believe this will be the seed.”

Choi said the magazine will be written in Korean, but it might not be recognizable to Southerners. “We will use the exact grammar that North Korean people use,” she said. The version that gets distributed in North Korea will also be edited a second time for security reasons.
 

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2883010

More detailed articles about it you can read here:

☞ Underground Magazine "Rimjinkang" Launched (DailyNK, 11.21)

☞ “北 지하 기자들 매체 만들고 싶어해” (DailyNK, 11.22)

☞ “정말 북한 주민 기자들이 씁네다” (Hankyoreh, 11.20)

For more informations about the project please contact:

rimjingang@asiapress.org

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Well, there is a Chinese saying "I wish you interesting times" (or "May you life in interesting times"), i.e. - as far as I know - "I wish you nothing good in the future"..

So in the connection with the next presidential election in S.K. (12.19) there may come some "interesting" developments:

About two weeks ago in a Chosun Ilbo editorial it has been written that "Candidates in the broader ruling camp - Chung, Moon and Kwon - now feel in danger of being sidelined. That has added momentum to the progressive camp’s search for a single candidate of its own. In other words, they have started feeling out a possible alliance."

Even I almost - deep in the "back-yard" of my brain (no, no there is not a complete vacuum, not really!!^^) - expected that such a move could be very likeley, at first I thought: "Impossible!!"

But y'day - surprisingly (^^) - the S.K. "left"-liberal daily Hankyoreh published following report:

Prominent senior progressives urge liberals to unite

A group of prominent citizens have banded together to urge the liberal camp to unify and select one presidential candidate ahead of the December 19 election. In a press conference held on November 19, the group said that it was time for the nation’s liberals to make an impression by uniting around common values, instead of being involved in value disputes. The group includes a Seoul National University professor emeritus, Paik Nak-chung; Catholic priests Han Se-ung and Kim Byung-sang; and Rev. Park Hyeong-gyu.

“With only 30 days left before the presidential election, many people are trying to denounce our 10-year, uphill struggle for democratization and peace as ‘a lost decade,’ while those who have spearheaded democratic reforms are likely to face defeat if they are not able to keep themselves in order,” the group said at the press conference.

They urged the liberal United New Democratic Party, Democratic Party, Create Korea Party and Democratic Labor Party to unite, saying that each of the parties should look for ways for the liberal camp to win the presidential election based on the advantages each one can bring to the race.

Eminent people from all walks of life, including poet Ko Un, director of Korea Legal Aid Center for Family Relations Kwak Bae-hee, literary critic Koo Jung-seo, Sangji University professor Kim Seong-hun, president of Dukdung Women’s University Ji Eun-hee, Buddhist monk Cheonghwa, and novelist Hwang Suk-young, signed the statement.

They criticized what they see as “the current confrontation between people who are indifferent to whether or not the current crop of presidential candidates are law-abiding or honest, and who pursue economic development by favoring large companies and rich people, and those who hold the opposing view.”

“Political maneuvering which is not based on values should naturally be criticized, but in a situation in which there is a clear value gap within the conservative forces, the forces of democratic reform should unite as much as possible through effective political strategizing,” they said.

 
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/251302.html

Well, I wish you interesting times!! (Sorry, but - possibly - that's may be just the f.. reality!)

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STRIKE IN FRANCE: THE 7th DAY