26개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
1. Today's Korea Herald "predicted" that the.. "Protests against U.S. beef imports, which have been going on for two months, will either continue or die down as a result of government clampdowns.."
And today's reality: Right now (it's 11 p.m., KST) tens of thousands of people (some activists are estimating 70,000!!), "ordinary" citizens, incl. some Christian and Buddhist clerics, anti-FTA, KCTU and student activists etc.., are occupying since around 7 p.m. the avenue between Namdaemun, the City Hall Plaza and the police barricades (aka the MB Castle) near the Jong-no/Sejong-no intersection.. DESPITE THE ANNOUNCED CRACKDOWN (by the S.K. gov't) against the protest movement!!
2. Today's Hankyoreh said that..
6.29 becomes 5.18
The police, thoroughly armed with shields and truncheons, arrived en masse. Citizens cried out in distress and scattered, and one by one, many of them fell when they were hit. A young woman who had fallen to the ground was surrounded by police who stamped on her with military boots and slammed her down with the edges of their shields. A lady well over sixty who had been standing on a sidewalk fainted after being hit on her face and shoulders with a truncheon. A doctor in his thirties who had been administering first aid was dragged away by police and beaten. A 24-year-old female office worker who protested when police were beating on people was hit in the head by a group of riot police and left bleeding. One woman’s rain clothes were drenched in blood. A man in his fifties lost consciousness. A high school student’s lips were bleeding.
That was the scene along Taepyeongno, the street that extends from the Gwanghwamun intersection to Namdaemun in downtown Seoul, early on the morning of June 29. It was just like the Gwangju of May 18, 1980, without the gunshots. The indiscriminate violence began again exactly 21 years after June 29, 1987, when the military government of Chun Doo-hwan, which had committed the atrocities in Gwangju, finally surrendered to the country’s demands for democratization. Did the clock get turned back a few decades to the past?
This comes just a few days after National Police Agency chief Eo Cheong-soo said, on June 26, that he “might like to use severe eighties-style tactics sometime.” In other words, police behavior early on June 29 was not just something that unfolded spontaneously, it was something that had been planned in detail. One can see the motive. The calculation that has been made is that by inciting a clash, and thereby isolating the candlelight protests, it will be easier to quiet them.
The police and government must not try to legitimize their violent suppression of protests. While it would be hard to figure out which side the violence originated with, no matter what the situation police cannot escape responsibility for excessive violence that goes beyond the boundaries of what is legal and appropriate. Like the military, the police are highly trained in the use of physical force, making the abuse of that training all the more dangerous. In Gwangju in 1980, the group called the “New Military Leaders” used excessive force in suppressing citizens protesting the usurpation of power and, in so doing, brought about a tragedy in resistance and slaughter, and still it said it was carrying out the law legitimately. This is something that should not be repeated.
The candlelight protests are an important outcry of popular sentiment, one that must not end with having been a clash with police. While we understand the sentiment of protesters angry at how the government has shut its ears and is trying to put them down with the police, they still must not treat as enemies young riot police who are easily excited. Many citizens have been hurt, but they say not a few riot police have been injured by citizens wielding steel pipes and wood clubs. That is sad. Are not the ones who should be held responsible for the situation somewhere else?
3. Related articles/reports:
->Police Raid Offices of Protestest Organizers (Korea Times)
->Protesters trampled, beaten by police (Hankyoreh)
->[6.29/30] NewsCham Report
->[6.28/29] Video Report
[6.28/29] Police Violence Led to Hours of Street Battles
The "conflict" began yesterday in the early afternoon when the Seoul Metropolitan Government gave a deadline to the protests groups to remove their information tents from City Hall Plaza. The protesters - of course - refused and 2,000 riot cops moved in and forcibly removed the tents.
About 400 protesters tried to physically block the removal, but failed. About 10 people who passive resisted were arrested.
Later during the entire afternoon riot cops attacked and/or arrested people who "could be" on their way to the (for 7 p.m.) planned canlelight vigil (i.e. mass demonstration against the policy of the LeeMB administration).
But, despite the repeated threat by the S.K. gov't to use "massive force" against any attempt for further protests, in the early evening around 100,000 people gathered in the area near the City Hall, blocked by hundreds of police buses and thousands of riot cops.
And only few minutes after the beginning (of the protest) riot cops started to use water cannons against the demonstrators (the claimed reason: they came to close to the police barricades!).
But thousands of protesters resisted for the following five hours the almost unceasing "fire" by at least four water cannons!! (*)
Finally - despite the excessive violence used by the riot cops - today in the morning thousands of protesters celebrated a kind of "victory party" on the "battle field"... and vowed to continue the struggle against policy of the current S.K. gov't.
And the answer of the LeeMB administration? Further escalations: "The Police may lift decade-long tear gas ban", according to today's S.K. media reports (but also CNN mentioned it).
PS:
Tonight - despite the prohibition of any further anti-gov't protests and the increasing efforts of thousands of riot cops to barricade downtown Seoul - some thousands of protesters were/are gathering near Jong-no 2-ga, just few Meters away from last night's battle-ground:
Related stuff:
☞ Police to Get Tough With Violent Protesters (Korea Times)
Reports by S.K. independent (i.e. non-gov't) sources (incl. many pics!!):
☞ VoP
☞ OhmyNews
☞ KCTU
☞ Pictures from last night's battle
☞ ... #2
☞ ... #3
* The (bourgeois) newspaper Korea Herald writes today following about the "event":
Violent clashes between police and anti-U.S. beef protesters created mayhem in central Seoul over the weekend, resulting in hundreds of injuries.
Protesting the legal notice to resume U.S. beef imports on Thursday, tens of thousands of people poured onto major downtown thoroughfares that lead to the presidential residence.
Police wielded clubs and used water cannons, fire extinguishers, and metal shields, and were seen to repeatedly kick some protesters who were shoved to the ground. Over 10,000 riot police were mustered to cope with increasingly unruly demonstrators..
Critics rebuked police again for employing excessive force in their dispersal efforts during the rallies.
Demonstrators used metal pipes (against police buses) and sprayed fire hoses from nearby buildings. They vandalized police vehicles and fired toy water guns filled with vinegar and seafood extract at the riot police. Protesters also threw plastic bottles, stones and other trash at the police.
Police used their amplifiers to persuade people to voluntarily disperse.
"Stop illegal acts (against the police). Destroying police buses and menacing officers are clear violent acts," they announced. But all such announcements only met with jeers of the protesters who repeatedly said, "Violent police move out!"
Roughly 300 to 400 demonstrators were injured between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, according to vigil organizers. A total of 112 police officers were injured, including 14 listed in critical condition, police said. Over 35 police vehicles were damaged, they said. A total of 55 people were detained for alleged illegal demonstrations.
Such rowdy scenes were taped and immediately posted on the internet, triggering controversy again over the police "inhumanely" dealing with demonstrators. Many observers said the weekend police crackdowns harked back to the 1980s military oppression on pro-democracy movements.
Following the June 1 footage where a 21-year-old woman was kicked by a boot-clad riot policeman, another similar one was released.
A 24-year-old woman, surnamed Jang, was repeatedly clubbed and kicked by three policemen on Saturday night. Jang had her right arm broken with lacerations and bruises in some parts of her body. She is considering suing the police.
"I continuously rolled my body over to survive. They chased me, kicking primarily parts around my head. I felt afraid that I could die," Jang was quoted as saying in local media.
Lee Hack-young, a secretary general of YMCA in Korea, was also delivered to a hospital after being stomped on by police Sunday morning. Lee said police clubbed, kicked, and hit about 50 YMCA members while they lay on the ground between police and protesters to block clashes.
"We didn't think that police would walk on us when we lay and shout 'nonviolence.' About 10 policemen stepped on me. This is tantamount to a declaration of war against people," he told reporters...
Well, after almost 50 days of demonstrations (candlelight vigils) slowly the S.K. ruling class and its media is becoming really angry(^^) about the ongoing protests against the policy of the current gov't (i.e. the LMB administration):
☞ Has the Gov't Given Up on Law and Order? (Chosun..)
☞ Lawlessness in Downtown Seoul (..Ilbo)
☞ Central Seoul Becomes 'Lawless District' (Korea Times)
(Oops.. "Lawless District"?? Yeah, why not??!! Who cares about the "law and order" created by the ruling class??)
And while the NPA is increasing its efforts to smash the protest movement (likely in the coming days/during the weekend)..
☞ Seoul police plan crackdowns on demonstrators (JoongAng Ilbo)
.."All 14 members of the National Police Agency’s human rights committee have decided to resign en masse to express regret for the crackdown on the candlelight rallies conducted by the riot police." (Hankyoreh, 6.27)
BTW.. very instructive are the comments (about the ongoing protests in Seoul) mainly posted likely by "foreigners":
☞ LMB Orders Crackdown on Violent Demonstrations
Anyway, at least from tomorrow afternoon until Sunday morning:
THE STRUGGLE GOES ON!!
(李)정부 박살내자!
자본주의 박살내자!
While the S.K. ruling class and its media is predicting - once again - that "the protests appear to be losing steam", since yesterday afternoon tens of thousands of people, "ordinary" citizens and many activists, are occupying the streets in the center of Seoul.
After LeeMB yesterday ordered the crackdown on the protest movement..
..clashes between the protesters and large units of the riot cops become routine.
Alone yesterday about 140 protesters were arrested!
Today LeeMB threatening demanded the end of the protests, but there is no end in sight!!
"The Lee administration has taken its first step toward death. We, along with the people, will fight the war!'', the DLP, for example, promised today.
And right now - once again - around 30,000 people are demonstrating in downtown Seoul (near the Sejong-no/Jong-no intersection). Of course they're blocked by hundreds of police buses and preparing for the next attack by the (thousands of) riot cops.
Korea Herald's newest edition reported about the latest(6.25/26) developments on the protest front:
Civic groups and trade unions vowed to fight against the government's posting yesterday of U.S. beef import terms in its gazette.
They argue the move ignores public opinion, amid lingering fears over mad cow disease.
A coalition of about 1,700 civic groups said it would stage massive rallies Saturday and Sunday in central Seoul, demanding the government withdraw its notification of new beef import conditions.
The coalition also threatened to initiate a movement to oust the Lee Myung-bak administration.
"We have reached a time when people cannot help discussing the toppling of the administration," said Park Won-suk, a senior member of the coalition...
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the nation's second-largest labor umbrella group, and other civic groups vowed today to block the release of the meat from warehouses in Busan and Gyeonggi Province. Some 5,300 tons of U.S. beef has remained frozen since last October when banned backbone fragments were found. "We will block the transportation of U.S. beef from today. We plan to position 10 to 100 members at 12 beef storage houses (in Gyeonggi Province), and will gradually increase the number," KCTU spokeswoman Woo Moon-suk told reporters.
Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency dispatched about 900 police officers yesterday to six warehouses in Gwangju, four in Yongin, one in Incheon and one in Hwaseong, where a combined 2,066 tons of U.S. beef is being stored. Police said it will take a stern action against any illegal demonstrations, such as obstruction of traffic.
About 100 members of women's rights groups, including Korean Women's Association United, formed a human chain in front of a storage house in Gwangju to block meat shipments.
Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea, a coalition of nationwide non-governmental groups, also joined the public condemnation...
They called for a complete renegotiation of the deal, the release of detained protesters and the resignation of Eo Cheong-soo, chief of the National Police Agency.
Lawyers for a Democratic Society -- a progressive lawyers' association -- applied to the Constitutional Court to stop the new import terms from taking effect.
"The government, against the will of the citizens, posted the new import terms in its gazette without announcing its legislation plan," it said in a statement.
"If the terms go into effect, the distribution of American beef could seriously compromise people's fundamental right to health, infliction damages that can not be recovered. We expect the court to make a prompt decision on this, given the gravity and urgency of the matter."
The anti-U.S. beef protests stretched into the morning, clogging main thoroughfares in central Seoul, which lead to the presidential residence of Cheong Wa Dae.
Roughly, 2,500 people (according to the "independent" media: between 10,000 and 20,000!!) joined the candlelight vigil on Wednesday night.
Between Wednesday and the morning, 139 were detained at the scenes, according to police. Of them, one senior citizen and four school children were released. According to the anti-U.S. beef coalition, about 100 citizens and 56 police were injured during violent clashes.
As violence escalated, police used water cannons and fire extinguishers to ward off protesters who attempted to climb up police vehicles parked to prevent them from marching toward Cheong Wa Dae.
Rep. Lee Jung-hee of the Democratic Labor Party was detained at round 4 p.m. on Wednesday while demonstrating on streets near Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul. She was released later that day and rejoined the demonstrations.
"I lament the reality that the administration can be maintained when it had to forcefully put on a police bus a lawmaker who protested the illegal detention of demonstrators," said Lee in a message she posted on an internet site while she was held at a police station.
"The insane Lee administration mounted a terrorist attack on a lawmaker in broad daylight, compromising the dignity of lawmakers and spitting on the authority of the legislature," said Park Seung-heup, spokesperson of the DLP.
At around 1:30 a.m. (today in the morning), a 53-year-old man part of his middle finger cut out. He claimed that a riot police officer had bitten it. He failed to find the missing part.
In the wake of mounting criticism about forceful crackdowns on protests, the human rights commission at the National Police Agency said all of its 14 members would offer to resign.
Related article:
☞ Protestors Break Up After Violent Rallies (K. Times)
[6.25/26]"independent" reports by..
☞ VoP
☞ OhmyNews
☞ Tong-il News
☞ [6.25/26]Timeline
While the "Protests against U.S. beef likely to continue", as yesterday's the S.K. press predicted...
LMB ORDERS CRACKDOWN ON ANTI-GOV'T MOVEMENT!
Today's Korea Herald is reporting:
President Lee Myung-bak yesterday ordered a tough response to violent and otherwise illegal protests against U.S. beef imports.
He expressed concern that radical activists have taken the helm of the candlelight vigils, turning them into a movement that challenges state authority and negates the "national identity."
"But protests challenging the national identity, and the illegal violent rallies, should be distinguished from policy critics and should be sternly dealt with," Lee said.
Law enforcement agencies warned that they will crack down firmly on assaults, blackmailing, malicious rumors and other illegal activities. Police chief Eo Cheong-soo reported to the president that, though the number of demonstrators is declining, law and order has been seriously damaged by a few extremists who have resorted to violence.
The police agency has secured warrants to detain 12 leaders of a civic coalition which is in the vanguard of the month-long campaign against the beef imports. The agency will take legal action against others involved in illegal actions, said the commissioner general of the National Police Agency.
Police and prosecutors are jointly conducting an extensive investigation into spread of false rumors and calumny regarding U.S. beef, largely on the internet.
The inquiry also targets the blackmailing of advertisers of major newspapers which are seen as supporting the government's beef policy.
The candlelight vigils appear to be losing steam. But protest organizers pledged to continue to fight and expand their agenda to a wider range of issues such as the privatization, economic policies, industrial relations and education...
Meanwhile yesterday, for the first time, pro-gov't forces - incited by the S.K. extreme reactionary press, such as Chosun Ilbo(*), JoongAng Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo ("조중동") - started with violent attacks against anti-gov't protesters:
A 50-year-old woman, identified as Park, lies in a hospital in Seoul on June 23 after having been beaten by approximately 10 members, among them a pastor(!!!), of a conservative association on the same day.
Park held a one-woman demonstration to keep the Korean Broadcasting System, or KBS, independent. She began her demonstration at around 5 p.m. on June 23 in front of the building’s headquarters when 10 members of a conservative association beat her indiscriminately, saying, “We should kill all of the leftists”
The person who carried her to the hospital said, “The members of the association struck her with a square bar and the kicked her after she fell down.”
The fifty members of the conservative association, including the 10 who beat the woman, fled at 9 p.m. when 1,000 people arrived on site after hearing news of the incident. (Hankyoreh, 6.24)
Related article:
☞ Clash Escalates Between Candlelit Ralliers, Conservatives (K. Times)
* Here just some (disgusting) examples from Chosun Ilbo:
☞ Legitimate Protesters or Hooligans?
☞ Protest Leaders Show Their True Colors
The China Labour Bulletin (CLB/中國勞工通訊) reported last week (6.17) that..
..China is just one step away from the right to strike
Workers in the P.R. China do not have the constitutional right to strike. Yet, every day in the Pearl River Delta alone there is at least one major strike involving over a thousand employees and dozens of smaller strikes and stoppages.
This continuous wave of industrial action has forced the national and local governments in China to reassess the legal framework of labour relations and introduce new legislation that seeks to address workers’ needs and bring the law into line with social and economic reality.
On 5 June 2008, Chen Yu of the Shantou Federation of Trade Unions, wrote in the New Express (Xinkuaibao) that new draft regulations issued by the Shenzhen municipal government effectively brought the largely taboo subject of strike action within the scope of legal regulation. As a result, Chen argued, the legal right to strike was now “only one step away.”
The article is significant for its candid assessment of the current balance of power in labour relations, the ineffectiveness of the All China Federation of Trade Unions in organising workers (“an embarrassing joke”) and union’s inability to support strike action. The article demonstrates that, in some union branches at least, officials are taking their responsibilities towards workers seriously and are actively seeking ways to both empower employees and protect their legal rights.
Shenzhen is One Step Away from the Right to Strike
The Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee recently published the Draft Regulations on the Growth and Development of Harmonious Labour Relations in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. The Draft Regulationsare are of groundbreaking significance, both because it is reportedly China's first legislative document on “harmonious labour relations,”and because the Standing Committee actively solicited public opinion before publishing it.
The most impressive aspect of the Draft Regulations is that it lays down more reasonable standards on the respective status and responsibilities of employees, employers and the government. It clearly asserts that to build harmonious labour relations, employers and workers have to engage in consultation on the basis of equality, abide by the law and exercise self-discipline, the government has to coordinate and supervise the process, ordinary citizens have to participate in it, and fairness and justice has to be maintained.
In view of the fact that in today's China employers are beyond any doubt the strongest party in the labour relationship, the establishment of more harmonious labour relations must begin by adjusting the balance of power between employers and employees. An individual worker within a big company is as powerless as a tiny ant before a big tree. The only way for workers to get things moving and solve their problems is to team up and join forces.
China's trade unions have the world's best organizational framework and largest membership roster, but their real status is an embarrassing joke. Political meddling throughout the system has prevented genuine and effective union organizing. Therefore, when the government takes its responsibilities seriously, trade unions need to do so too.
After the Chinese Constitution was amended in 1982, the word "strike" (bagong) became taboo in Chinese legislation. It was replaced by references to "shutdowns" (tinggong) and "slowdowns" (daigong). Most lamentably, the (amended) Trade Union Law of 2001 stipulates: "When a work-stoppage or slow-down occurs in an enterprise or institution, the trade union shall ... assist the enterprise or institution in its work so as to enable the normal production process to be resumed as quickly as possible" (Article 27). Rules of the game that deny workers the right to collective action effectively reduce them to collective begging.
The fact that trade unions are not only unable to stand clearly with workers but must also perform thankless tasks on behalf of employers manifestly shows that they remain in a subordinate position.
Although the Draft Regulations does not go so far as to call a strike a strike, and continues to refer to work stoppages, slowdowns and lockouts, it no longer insists that when such incidents occur, trade unions have to help enterprises resume production as quickly as possible. This fact in itself gives trade unions some room for manoeuvre. What makes the Draft Regulations even more groundbreaking is that it stipulates that when a major strike occurs, the government may issue an order prohibiting management and workers from taking any action for a period of 30 days that is liable to exacerbate the dispute. By clearly stipulating the rights and obligations of employers and workers, the Draft Regulations have, in fact, brought industrial strike action within the scope of legal regulation.
We are only a step away from the right to strike. This paper-thin barrier can be breached. These regulations fully embody Shenzhen's pioneering spirit.
We can safely assume that if the Draft Regulations are approved, it will quickly prompt employers, workers and the government to assume their respective responsibilities to jointly build harmonious labour relations.
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/100263
During the last week the S.K. bourgeois/reactionary media predicted a significantly decreasing of the current demonstrations - now ongoing since almost 50 days - against the KORUS FTA beef deal (or better said against the LMB gov't!!!), but the reality shows (possibly^^) a complete different picture:
Protests Continue Despite New Deal (Korea Herald, 6.22)
Civic groups and opposition parties have been continuing to call for renegotiating the U.S. beef import deal, rebuffing the latest measures between Seoul and Washington to ease Koreans' concerns over mad cow disease.
A coalition of about 1,700 civic groups organized nationwide 48-hour candlelight vigils over the weekend.
The area around Seoul City Hall, 6.21 in the early night
Labeling the outcome of the additional negotiation as "deceptive," tens of thousands of demonstrators roamed down the streets in downtown Seoul on Saturday, urging the government to renegotiate with Washington to impose tougher quarantine measures.
They confronted riot police at the Sejongno intersection until today in the morning, attempting to march on the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae. Opposition parties also pressed for renegotiations on the deal, saying that the additional talks did not secure the health rights and complete quarantine sovereignty for the nation...
The overnight demonstrations, which organizers say were attended by as many as 60,000 people, turned "violent" in today's predawn hours, as protesters tied rope to one of the police buses in an attempt to break the barricade of buses and get through. They also built steps made of sand bags to walk over the buses.
The bus barricade was located just a kilometer away from the protest in the Gwanghwamun area to block them from marching on Cheong Wa Dae.
In return, the police used fire extinguishers to control the protest and a motor sprinkler also appeared on the protesting grounds, adding intensity to the demonstrations.
So far, a total of 17 protesters have been arrested for illegal acts, which include damaging the police's wall of buses, fighting with the police and disobeying police orders.
This was marked as the second-largest protest to come after the rallies commemorating the 1987 democracy movement on June 10, which were attended by about 80,000 people (oops~ the reality: at least 700,000!!).
Related (all contributions have a lot of impressive pictures):
☞ [6.21/22] Tong-il News Report
LeeMB before yesterday, once again, apologized "for mishaps of U.S. beef deal". But "netizens and the People’s Countermeasure Council against Full Resumption of Imports of U.S. Beef Endangered with Mad Cow Disease(PCC) downplayed President Lee Myung-bak’s second public apology on June 19. They said that they had expected Lee would come up with a drastic measure but there was no improvement from the current government position", according to Hankyoreh.
And today's news that "Korea and the United States have reached a new agreement on the resumption of U.S. beef imports" (Yonhap) leave the activists of the PCC, a coalition of 1,700 civic groups, resistance organizations and ("progressive") political parties un-impressed and complete unsatisfied!
So, according to PCC: "THE STRUGGLE GOES ON!"
Already since today's evening thousands of people are protesting (and discussing the perspectives of the current struggle) in front of Seoul City Hall. From tomorrow until Sunday the activities will continue (Saturday, 5 pm: rally in Daehang-no and demo to City Hall. 7 pm "Candlelight Culture Festival" etc..)
And in the coming days there are at least two more reasons for mass demonstrations/protests (i.e. disrupt the public order!!): Next weekend C. Rice will come to Seoul and just a few days later (likely 7.07) the most beloved(^^) G.W. Bush will pay a visit to S.Korea's "Public Enemy No.1" (aka LeeMB^^)!!
Well, while the PCC predicts the increase, at least the continuity of the protests.. the S.K. bourgeoise press has a complete different view (surprise, surprise!!) about the current situation and the "possible" perspective of the protest movement:
Candlelight flickers as issues diverge (K. Herald, 6.19)
The candlelight at protests against U.S. beef imports has noticeably dimmed amid controversy over their political aims.
Protesters have been criticized for widening their politcal targets, and even threatening to oust President Lee Myung-bak.
In stark contrast to the rallies commemorating the 1987 democracy movement on June 10 - attended by about 80,000 people - the number of protesters at the key venue of Seoul Plaza has thinned to less than a thousand, according to police estimates.
On Monday and Tuesday - when political issues were first brought in as primary topics - about 800 and 500 people, respectively, turned out in central Seoul. Some observers even claimed participants were mostly members of civic groups disapproving of government policies.
From this week on, the coalition of about 1,700 civic groups, named "People's Action for Countermeasures against Mad Cow Disease," have added five government plans to the vigils' official agenda.
The topics include educational policies; the project to build a cross-country canal; and the plans to privatize the health service and public enterprises. The coalition has organized the candlelight vigils since April 27, following the signing of a beef import deal with the United States on April 18.
Critics have berated the coalition for deviating from its initial "pure" purpose of protecting public health from the risks of the brain-wasting disease, and becoming unduly antigovernment by raising such diverse issues.
Lee Moon-youl, a conservative novelist, denounced the candlelight vigils for opposing government policies which have yet to materialize.
"In my view, (the protesters) objecting to all of the yet-to-be-implemented policies of the legitimate government, elected by overwhelming voter approval, appears to be a sort of collective fracas. Continuing their candlelight pranks for too long could burn them in the end," Lee said in a radio interview on Tuesday, prompting some to boycott his books.
Among protesters themselves, concerns are running deeper over the demonstrations "getting sidetracked."
"I feel annoyed while watching some utilizing the candlelight vigils to unconditionally rebuke the government with impure motives. We need to calm down and ponder on what is in the best interests of our nation," says an internet poster with the username "Hanmaeum," in a message posted on the website of the coalition.
Apprehensive about such rising concerns, the coalition is trying to restore public confidence. To rally further support, it vowed to hold a 48-hour "intensive" struggle against the government if their demand for a complete renegotiation of the import deal was not met by tomorrow.
To ease public concerns over divergent vigil issues, the coalition will hold an internet debate for three days - today, Saturday and Monday - to solicit public opinion. The coalition had previously threatened to stage a national movement to topple the Lee administration if it refused to meet its demands. However, it backed off from its initial position, saying that there was no official agreement reached yet regarding the full-scale antigovernment drive, and that it would seek public opinion...
And the same newspaper reported today about following "development":
University students clash over vigils
University student councils appeared to have clashing views on student participation of the anti-U.S. beef candlelight vigils that are increasingly drawing criticism as politicized protests.
The student council of Seoul National University said yesterday it will only join the protests against U.S. beef imports, boycotting the vigils that deal with other political issues.
"The issue students have approved of is regarding the renegotiation of the U.S. beef import deal. Therefore, the student council cannot engage in any activities concerning other political issues," Jeon Chang-yeol, president of the SNU student council, told reporters yesterday.
"If participants at the vigils chant slogans not related to the import pact, we are considering leaving the place or avoiding chanting the slogans."
SNU students collectively joined the candlelight vigils on June 5, calling for nullification or renegotiation of the import deal after nearly 90 percent of the voters at the school approved of the student council's action against U.S. beef imports.
The Korea University student council also remained skeptical about its students taking part in vigils touching on other political issues.
In contrast, the head of the student council at Ewha Womans University, said the vigils should be expanded into protests against overall government policies.
"From the outset of the candlelight vigils, many have raised a series of issues against government policies such as liberalization of universities and privatization of public enterprises," Kang Jeong-joo told reporters.
"The beef row cannot help but be linked to the overall policies of the incumbent government, I guess."
From this week on, protesters have included political topics to their vigils' official agenda. They include educational policies; the project to build a cross-country canal; and the plans to privatize the health service and public enterprises.
A coalition of 1,700 civic groups, called "People's Action for Countermeasures against Mad Cow Disease," set a deadline of today, demanding the government clarify its position on the beef issue. If their demand -- a complete renegotiation -- is not met, it threatened to mobilize every possible means to lead an anti-U.S. beef movement.
The coalition plans to hold another massive rally today at 7 p.m. at Seoul Plaza for 48 hours, in the form of debates or cultural performances, it said.
☞ Citizens Split Over Direction of Candlelit Vigil (Korea Times, 6.20)
And finally you MUST read following "background stories"(^^) published in Chosun Ilbo:
☞ Protest Leaders Show Their True Colors (6.18)
☞ The Real Identity of the Mad Cow Fearmongers (6.13)
MTU recently started a new agit-prop campaign (*) against the latest/ongoing massive wave of crackdown, initiated by the S.K. gov't, against un-documented migrant workers in general and the MTU and its activists in particular. The campaign is - of course - also aiming on organizing migrant workers in S.K. in the MTU... Here's MTU's campaign leaflet, released today:
Migrant Workers Unionize!
The Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants Trade Union (MTU), an affiliate of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, was founded as a union for and by migrant workers on 24 April 2005. Since its founding, MTU has been struggling to protect the labor rights of both documented and undocumented migrant workers. MTU has been has been one of the strongest voices calling for revision of the problematic laws governing documented migrant workers, such as restriction on transfer of workplaces and annually renewed contracts. It has also been fighting to secure the 3 basic labor rights of undocumented migrant workers and to stop the human-hunting crackdown against undocumented migrants.
MTU’s Legal Battle
The Ministry of Labor has denied MTU’s legal union status on the basis that MTU’s founders are undocumented migrant workers who it says do not have the same rights afforded workers in the South Korean Constitution and the Trade Union Law.
This claim was rejected by the Seoul High Court on 1 February 2007, which ruled in favor of MTU. The High Court stating that undocumented migrants who have entered into employment relations should be seen as workers under the Constitution and Trade Union Law, and therefore are entitled to freedom of association. It also stated that while the Immigration Control Law prohibits the act of employing foreigners without residence status, it does not have jurisdiction over their rights as workers once they have entered into relationships of employment.
Despite the High Court decision, the Ministry of Labor is still refusing to acknowledge MTU’s legal union status and has appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. The new conservative president Lee Myeong-bak has also stated he will not tolerate MTU and has created a wider situation of repression against migrant workers. MTU’s needs the support of unions around the world to assure it will gain the legal recognition it deserves!
International Law and Undocumented Migrant Workers’ Right to Freedom of Association
Under the South Korean Constitution, international conventions ratified by the ROK have the same force as domestic law. South Korea has signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). All of these conventions protect the right to freedom of association of all workers regardless of social status. In particular, CERD General Recommendation No. 30(2004) states that “guarantees against racial discrimination apply to non-citizens regardless of their immigration status” (paragraph 7) and that “while States parties may refuse to offer jobs to non-citizens without a work permit, all individuals are entitled to the enjoyment of labor and employment rights, including the freedom of assembly and association, once an employment relationship has been initiated until it is terminated” (paragraph 32).
What is more, ILO Convention No. 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize) protects the right to freedom of association for all workers, “without distinction whatsoever” and has been shown to apply to undocumented migrant workers through Committee on Freedom of Association recommendations (UGT, 2001 and AFL-CIO/CTM, 2002).
MTU’s case is not just about the rights of migrant workers in South Korea. By winning legal recognition, MTU will be setting a real precedent for the right to freedom of association of undocumented migrant workers around the world, bringing to life the principles set out in international labor and human rights law.
Repression against MTU: Targeted Crackdown
Since even before MTU was founded, the government has used a tactic of targeted arrest and deportation of leaders of the migrant workers movement as a way to weaken their unionizing. MTU’s first president was arrested in the middle of the night shortly after the union was founded, and kept in a detention center for close to a year before finally being release for medical reasons.
On 27 2007 November the President, Vice President and General Secretary of MTU were all arrested at the same time in separate locations in Seoul by multiple immigration officers who had lay in waiting hidden near their homes or workplace. They were deported in the middle of the night on December 13 despite the fact that a National Human Rights Commission investigation concerning their arrests was still underway.
Only 5 months later the newly elected MTU President and Vice President were arrested, detained and deported in the exact same matter. Despite a decision of the National Human Rights Commission on 15 May calling for a stay of detention until its investigation of the arrests was completed, the two men were taken from their cells that day and transported to Incheon Airport before their lawyers were notified and deported at roughly 9:30 that evening. These targeted arrests are clearly abuses of the authority to detain and deport undocumented migrant workers under the Immigration Control Law and acts of labor repression...
* incl. the Int'l Signature Campaign:
☞ Stop Repression against Migrant Workers in South Korea!
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