27개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Under the headline Record number of [racist!!]Koreans sign anti-refugee petition Korea Times(7.06) reported that a record number of people have signed a petition on the presidential office website asking for tougher rules for granting refugee status... As of Friday morning, about 642,000 people had signed...
And today, only two days later...
Today's (bourgeois)Korea Herald reported the following: A group of conservative, elderly Koreans who are ardent supporters of former President Park Geun-hye attacked a memorial site of a late laid-off worker in central Seoul on Wednesday, calling mourners and other laid-off laborers “commies” and “germs,” among other names. “You are ruining our country, you are ruining our country,” an elderly Korean woman shouted at the mourners, waving a South Korean flag frantically. “This guy did not even die for our country. Why create such a fuss? Leave now! Leave now! Get out of our sight, commies!” said an elderly man wearing a military uniform...
The late worker, Kim Ju-jung, took his own life last month after fighting for some nine years for re-employment at his former employer, Ssangyong Motors. He was one of some 2,600 workers who lost their jobs in 2009, after the automaker instigated massive layoffs in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis.
Twenty-nine other Ssangyong laid-off workers and their family members have either taken their own lives or died of illnesses. A lot of the late workers were parents of young children.
Following Kim’s death, his former colleagues set up a public memorial site...
...in front of Deoksugung[palace] in central Seoul earlier this week, to pay tribute to Kim and others who have lost their lives since the massive layoffs in 2009.
"We have been witnessing such barbarism and madness today," said Yang Kyung-soo, an official from the Minju-nochong[i.e. KCTU], a national trade union in South Korea, on being attacked for mourning the death of Kim.
"We are only here to say we need to save lives, rather than letting people die. Over the course of nine years, 30 have died. And these deaths could've been avoided. I don't know why we have to endure such indignity just to say this."...
Deoksugung is a place of significance for laid-off Ssangyong workers. The first and temporary memorial site for the late workers was set up here in 2012...
...after 24 lost their lives due to extreme financial hardships and stress caused by long-term unemployment.
Following Kim’s death last month, his former colleagues decided to move the memorial site back to Daehanmun, the main gate to Deoksugung in central Seoul, after five years, to raise awareness and protest against the government who they think is partially responsible for the 30 tragic deaths...
Starting Tuesday afternoon/evening, the members of the conservative group both physically and verbally attacked the mourners and former colleagues of late Kim...
Sometimes they would sing the national anthem loudly whenever mourners tried to make a speech in tribute to the late Kim using a microphone...
As of Wednesday morning, one citizen and one labor activist were sent to a hospital after being hit by the conservative group members. A reporter was also physically attacked and his camera damaged. The violence continued through Wednesday afternoon, amid scorching hot weather... (more you can read here)
Related articles:
☞ 쌍용차 분향소 인권침해 심각…보수단체 공격, 부상 속출 (참세상, 7.04)
☞ 보수단체 욕설·폭력에 둘러싸인 대한문 앞 쌍용차 분향소 (민중의소리, 7.04)
☞ "더 이상 죽어서는 안 되기에 이곳으로 왔다" (노동과 세계, 7.04)
Hyundai Motor's militant labor union [a section of KMWU, affiliated to KCTU] said Tuesday its members voted to strike over stalled wage talks. According to the union, 44,782 union members among 50,417 cast their ballots a day earlier, and 33,084 voted for the strike...
Since 2012, Hyundai Motor's union has staged walkouts every year.
This year, the union is demanding a 5.3 percent increase in the basic monthly wage and a performance bonus totaling 30 percent of the automaker's 2017 net profit.
Workers and management have also conflicted over the carmaker's intention of investing in a car manufacturing plant in Gwangju. The union has claimed the investment will threaten their job security and lead to lower wages...(source: K. Times, 7.03)
Related (Korean)report:
☞ 현대자동차 쟁의행위 찬반투표 찬성 통과 (울산저널, 7.02)
Yesterday's Korea Times, under the headline 'Put Koreans before refugees', reported the following: Hundreds of people gathered in central Seoul Saturday to protest against the Jeju Provincial Government's (JPG) refugee-friendly policy which they believe allows many "fake refugees" to slip into Korea. About 700 people rallied near Seoul City Hall to call on the central and Jeju governments to abolish the JPG's visa-waiver program which allows foreigners to stay on Jeju Island for a month... Protesters urged the central and local governments to strengthen the legal systems so that Korean citizens can be better protected, saying they do not want their country to turn into something like a European country "struggling badly with refugee issues." They chanted, "Koreans first," "We want safety," "Abolish the no-visa policy," and "For whom does this country exist?"...
About 50 meters away from where the rally took place, another group of people (dozens of people) gathered...
...to urge the central and Jeju governments to embrace the asylum seekers in Jeju and provide better support for them...(the entire report you can read here)
Related articles:
☞ S. Koreans hold rallies in support of, and against, asylum seekers (Yonhap, 6.30)
☞ “국민이 먼저다! 무사증·난민법 폐지하라!” (한겨레, 6.30)
☞ South Korea’s Enduring Racism (NYT, 7.01)
Today's Yonhap reported briefly the following: As many as 80,000 workers affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a major umbrella labor group, pack into the Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on June 30, 2018, to protest against a revision of minimum wage that recently passed the Cabinet. They also called for abolition of irregular jobs. It is the biggest laborers' rally held under the liberal Moon Jae-in government since Moon took office in May last year.
Here you can watch a short report by YonhapnewsTV.
KCTU's detailed (Korean)report, incl. some pics you'll get here.
More reports(in Korean) about yesterday's KCTU rally/demo you'll get on LabourStart[please check out the links, posted today(7.01)].
최근 덧글 목록