CINA

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In the context of the coming G-20 Summit in Seoul the S.K. gov't is preparing (starting from tomorrow) new, 'sophisticated' measures to discriminate against visitors from abroad (i.e. "third world" foreigners/potential migrant workers)...

For more please "enjoy" the following piece, published in yesterday's (bourgeois) Korea Times:

Suspicious visitors to be fingerprinted from Wed.

Starting Wednesday, foreign nationals suspected of using fake identities to enter the country or whose purpose of visiting Korea is suspicious will have their fingerprints(*) scanned and face photographed at all 22 international airports and harbors in the country.

The move is intended to tighten security ahead of the G20 summit to be held in Seoul in November.

This is the first in a three-phased initiative to screen for “suspicious” foreign visitors by matching their biometric information with that of “blacklisted” people, the Ministry of Justice said Monday...

The legal grounds were reinstated early this month ― the law was scrapped in 2003 over fears of human rights infringement.

Those affected by the lowest level of screening are people whose identity is similar to that of an international terrorist...

For instance, those who transit other cities before coming to Korea or who buy a one-way ticket to Korea in cash are among those deemed suspicious.

“Cash is hardly ever used to buy flight tickets,” said Ahn Gyu-seok, a spokesman for the Korea Immigration Service. “We suspect that those who do so are attempting to prevent the authorities from tracking cash flows.”

Those who are not proficient in the language of the state of origin stipulated in their passport, and who lack basic knowledge about the country will also be questioned, the ministry said...

Officials did not elaborate on the guidelines for security concerns...

 
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/08/117_72265.html

* In another blog someone added: "Nothing says ‘Welcome to my country you filthy foreign scum’ quite like being fingerprinted at customs..."

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Escalating Fascist Terror in Russia

Y'day(8.29) during the course of an assault upon concert-goers in Miass (Chelyabisnk Region, 1400km east of Moscow) hundreds of “bare-chested” boneheads (fascist skinheads) have apparently injured scores and killed a 14-year-old girl(*). Some reports suggest that there may be more victims, but accurate information will be difficult to obtain while the Russian state goes into damage control mode.

AP reported the following:

Scores of bare-chested skinheads attacked a crowd of about 3,000 people at a rock concert in central Russia on Sunday, beating them with clubs, media reports said.

Dozens of people were left bloodied and dazed in the attack, television and news agencies reported, and state news channel Rossiya-24 said a 14-year-old girl was killed at the concert in Miass...

Not surprisingly — or incredibly, if you prefer — some other reports said that the cops stood aside as the boneheads went about their bloody business!

According to local media reports, shooting was also heard as a crowd of angry bare-chested boneheads, armed with batons, sticks and iron rods, forced their way through security cordons.

“Police and security guards were either inactive or ran away. Some attackers snatched truncheons from police officers and started beating the visitors,” the Chelnovosti reported citing eyewitnesses.

Today's Guardian (UK) reported the following:

Skinheads attack crowds at Russian rock festival

About 100 skinheads attacked crowds of revellers at a Russian rock festival yesterday, injuring 19 people, reports in the Russian media say.

The state-run Rossiya 24 television channel showed footage of large groups of bare-chested men with cropped hair running up to the entrance of the Tornado festival in the Urals city of Miass, about 850 miles east of Moscow.

A spokeswoman said local police had no immediate comment on the motive behind the attacks. Six of the 19 victims were taken to hospital.

At least 60 people were killed and 306 injured in hate crimes in Russia last year, according to Sova, a rights group that monitors racist violence in the country. Most were attacks on Muslim migrants from central Asia.

Witnesses at the festival, which was attended by 3,000 people, said some of the men fired gunshots into crowds, Rossiya 24 reported. Footage showed policemen collecting axes and batons belonging to the skinheads.

The Ekho Moskvy radio station said the owner of a local cafe had been detained on suspicion of organising the violence.

Activists in Russia have warned that increasing xenophobia and a corrupt police force are allowing far-right groups to prosper.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/30/skinheads-attack-russian-rock-festival

* According to the Russian Indymedia, "in the attack died from 3 to 7 people, more than 50 people were injured"...
  "Russian state-run news channel Rossiya-24 reported the death of a 14-year-old girl, but the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted police in the Chelyabinsk Oblast as saying no one had died in the violence", according to Radio Free Europe

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For next Friday's "Peace Talks" the Obama administration plans to present Israel and the Palestinian Authority with a new outline aimed at ending the Middle East conflict. The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported two days ago that "the Americans will pressure the parties to sign a framework agreement for a permanent settlement within one year"...

But instead of "ending the Middle East conflict" last week's Haaretz (Israel's most important "left"-liberal newspaper) predicted that...

Peace talks... will make war more likely

 
Terror is likely to resume during the talks, in order to thwart them. And Israel must prepare on all fronts for a long period of unrest.

This time, Benjamin Netanyahu really wants to do it. The decision had been percolating for some time, and was finally made, after a not particularly hard push from U.S. President Barack Obama, in his Bar-Ilan University speech.

The prime minister's opponents, who look for flaws in everything he does, don't believe him. They think he doesn't mean what he says. How could he?

But he can. It happens to many decision-makers: They behave in ways that violate their fundamental beliefs. Improvement of Government Services Minister Michael Eitan, who this week called for extending the freeze on settlement construction, expressed it well. His explanation: On the issue of two states and the future of the settlements, he, his leader Netanyahu and a majority of their Likud Party have accepted the left's positions, if only by default.

The Bar-Ilan declaration became binding Israeli policy. It was also an ideological milestone with far-reaching ramifications: The leader of the camp identified with the indivisibility of the Land of Israel was the one who announced, in his role as prime minister, that the land will be divided.

Now, in embarking on talks whose aim is to implement the division, he has reconciled himself to that declaration, without any signs of traumatic guilt on either his own part or that of his party. What's done is done, as Eitan rightly observed.

But Netanyahu will not be able to do it this time, either. Not because he doesn't want to, or because he will lack a majority in the Knesset. If he reached an agreement with the Palestinians, the opposition would provide him with a majority, as happened with the Oslo Accords and the disengagement from Gaza. But with the Likud leading the move to divide the country's heartland, there would most likely be no need for the opposition's support.

Rather, Netanyahu will not be able to do it because this time, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas really can't. And he also doesn't want to.

Netanyahu, in contrast, has put himself in the political position of his predecessors Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon. There was almost no compromise they were not willing to make, or they indeed made many. But the Palestinians simply "couldn't do it." They even escalated the terror.

The minimalist Jewish Zionist consensus includes recognition of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people; relinquishing the "right of return"; ending the conflict and waiving all further demands once the agreement is signed; no division of Jerusalem by formal agreement, as opposed to practical arrangements; and the continued existence of the settlement blocs. Are the Palestinians prepared to accept this Zionist minimum? Absolutely not.

But even if it turned out that this time, the Palestinians didn't want to miss another opportunity to miss an opportunity, those with the real power would torpedo the process: Tehran, Damascus, Hezbollah in Beirut, and soon also Baghdad, where Iran will pull the strings. They would never accept recognizing Israel as the home of the Jewish people. They would use force to prevent the Palestinians from relinquishing the right of return, to prevent a declaration that the Arabs have no more ideological, religious and territorial claims in Palestine, that the conflict has ended.

The man who forced Abbas to go to Washington next week is the same one who, by withdrawing from Iraq and appeasing Iran, sowed the seeds of trouble that will undermine any agreement. Iraq's abandonment by the United States is creating regional instability.

The one who will benefit from the chaos is the one with power, defined goals and the determination to achieve them: Iran. And America, its wings clipped by choice and fearing another entanglement, will not be able to stop Iran from achieving decisive influence in the region and completing its nuclear bomb project. The axis of evil will not make do with its outpost in Gaza.

Given this situation, how could Abbas reach an agreement, even if he wanted to?

Terror is likely to resume during the talks, in order to thwart them. And Israel must prepare on all fronts for a long period of unrest - because Egypt is also in transition, characterized by instability, and the Jordanian monarch, as we all have seen and heard, is in a panic.

There is no certainty that the instability will lead to war. But it certainly doesn't bring peace between us and the Palestinians, or with most of the Arab world, any closer. Obama, when he imposed the direct talks, apparently didn't think about that. Thus the peace talks bring us no prospect of peace - only the seeds of war.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/peace-talks-that-will-make-war-more-likely-1.310283

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MTU released y'day the following piece:

Thank you all!
(Get Up, Stand Up! Stand Up for Your Rights!)

In behalf of Migrants' Trade Union, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to everyone who has supported and participated our concert last Sunday, August 22.

Despite of the short notice and short preparation period, the event pulled off... without any major glitches. It was a smashing success as people continue to rave about it. The performances were exceptional and were applauded by the audiences. Each one who came to watch the concert wore big smiles as they went out of the hall after the performance.

First, we would like to thank our very generous sponsors who have helped us make this event possible. Without you we would have not been able to see the realization of this event. Thank you to Serapina for doing the fund-raising for us despite of her busy schedules and other obligations. To Minbyun, who has not only helped us with our legal case in the Supreme court but has always been there for us to support all our efforts and activities. Thank you very much to KCTU, KCTU Seoul regional councul, KCTU Goyang-Paju branch, Metal Workers Union, New Progressive party, MP Hongheedeok, MWTV, Buddhist Action group, Bongeunsa temple, Korean House for International Soldarity, I&We, Peace Museum, Friends of Asia, JCMK, Network for migrants human rights, Catholic migrants center EXODUS and the lawyer Gwonyoungguk.

Secondly, we would like to thank the volunteer team. They were very organized and truly commendable in their dedication. Always alert and ready to cope with any situation, we owe you a lot for you have strictly kept everything in order. Everything just went on smoothly. Despite a minor delay on the starting time we were able to finish right on the dot at 5pm. We would like to make special mention of Minsu dongji the owner of Potala Restaurant in Myeongdong. He and his wife supported us in the concert driving us back and forth and picking up all our stuff as well as making our refreshing lassi drink. KCTU Seoul Regional Council dongjis, General Workers Union President Yoon Sunho and Bang Moonsoon, et al, they have been with us since the night before the concert preparing and ironing out everything which led to the smooth succession of events. And of course for the real brains of this operation, we would like to give our very special thanks to Soemoethu dongji who has not only done a wonderful job hosting and performing in our concert but has lent us his expertise and experience in organizing the programs for this event and connected us to all those wonderful artists.

And the artists.... all those wonderful artists. Thank you very much for the outstanding performance that you have given. Eventhough your participation in our event was purely voluntary and had no monetary benefits you have still given your best. We will forever cherish the memories that we have been able to make and share with you. Rest assured that you are included in the historical milestone of MTU! We sincerely hope next time, as the opportunity comes, your doors will still be open to us... to share each others passion, each others culture and our solidarity!

We would also like to thank our guests who have been there to support MTU all the time: The leaders and members of MTU, migrants, students, movement and social groups, activists and non-activists, Koreans and non- Koreans alike. Thank you all for making this event a special one. We hope to see you in the next one too. Maybe next time you can bring more friends.. because with you, the experience is well worth it!

Last but not least, I would like to personally thank the staff and the sit-in participants for working day and night just to make this event possible. We exist to inspire and empower people. We are living out our purpose. Be proud because we can do anything that we set our minds to! Be proud because we are MTU!

Thank you everyone! 투쟁!

In solidarity,
Michel
President
Migrants Trade Union

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First of all: the screenshot I uploaded y'day (related to the 'uriminzokkiri'-facebook) has - of course - nothing to do with the "real"/"official"...

...'uriminzokkiri'-facebook presence!

Anyway... it already disappeared some days ago^^!
Today's Yonhap reported that "N. Korea's presumed Facebook account deleted after reportedly breaking rules"

Well, and to make the confusion perfect: yesterday's CNET wrote that "North Korea denies being on Twitter, Facebook"...

You got it?!

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Since last week a kind of "game of chicken" between the South and North Korean "propaganda departments" is taking place and amuses the int'l internet community...

Last Saturday's Hankyoreh reported the following:

Inter-Korean hide and seek takes place on Twitter

S.Korean authorities have attempted to block N.Korea’s newly-created Twitter account

North Korea and South Korea are playing a fierce game of “hide and seek” on Twitter. The South Korean government blocked the Twitter site supposedly run by North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.

North Korea has responded by using a variety of techniques to get around this.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KOCSC), in accordance with requests from relevant agencies, blocked access by local users to the site twitter.com/uriminzok on Thursday, applying the National Security Law.

Accordingly, the site has been officially blocked since Thursday evening. Users of Twitter applications such as Parangsae and Seesmic, could still read it even after the measure. Since 75 percent of Twitter users access Twitter through these programs, the KCSC measure is having little effect. In fact, even after the authorities officially blocked access to the site, the number of followers continued to increase. As of Friday afternoon, they were more than 9,200. Most were Koreans.

Particularly noteworthy is that North Korea’s methods are growing more sophisticated. In fact, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland used the URLs from Uriminzokkiri just as they were when it first opened the Twitter account on Aug. 12, but from Aug. 18 it began using Twitter-use TinyURLs, and since the site was blocked, it has connected its posts to Facebook.

Its Facebook page has yet to be blocked. In particular, North Korea has been syndicating its Facebook content via RSS since Friday. It is also sharing videos via its Youtube account, which likewise has yet to be blocked.

The authorities are also showing more concern. The emergency blocking measure taken by the KCSC targets only the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http). It does not close off new paths set up by North Korea. As it is possible for users to access the blocked Twitter site via HTTP Secure (https), the authorities have become even more agonized.

Meanwhile, in an article published by the Christian Science Monitor, Michael Breen, who has written a biography of Kim Jong-il, said, “It shows they do not trust their own people.” Breen also said, “Citizens should be allowed to make up their minds about dictatorship.”

Andrew Salmon, a Korea expert who has written a book on the British soldiers who fought during the Korean War, remarked that it was “ridiculous” that the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland’s Twitter site was blocked.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_northkorea/436131.html

Related articles:

☞ North Korea reportedly joins Facebook (AP, 8.22)

☞ Just how concerning are NK tweets? (K. Times, 8.20)

☞ A ‘tweet’ from Pyongyang could land you in jail (JoongAng Ilbo, 8.19)

☞ ROK set to counter NK Twitter offensive (K. Times, 8.18)

☞ North Korea says it has joined Twitter, YouTube (AP, 8.17)

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The Migrants' Trade Union(MTU) has been conducting a sit-in protest at Hyangrin Church in Seoul's Myeong-dong since July 13 to protest the South Korean government’s unjust crackdown against undocumented migrant workers. Additionally MTU’s President began a hunger strike on July 25...

Here you can follow the...
☞ 6th Sit-in Struggle Report (8.04-07)
☞ 7th Sit-in Struggle Report (8.09-12)
☞ 8th Sit-in Struggle Report (8.13-15)


 

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MTU's Solidarity Concert in Seoul:
 

Also on Sunday, migrant workers protest rally in Daegu:

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