5112개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Last Saturday's Hankyoreh published the following article:
Migrant labor organizer bids bittersweet farewell to Korea
Family duties bring MTU’s Michel Catuira home after six year struggle in Korea
On January 31, 40-year-old Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants' Trade Union (MTU) president Michel Catuira will leave Korea after six years in the country and return to the Philippines. Just as he came to Korea to help his family, he is returning to the Philippines because of his family.
“Anyone has to go back when the time comes, but it's a pity to be going back when I haven't achieved much in particular here,” said Michel with a smile, when meeting with a Hankyoreh reporter on Thursday at the union's office in Nokbeon neighborhood, Eunpyeong District, Seoul. He has decided to return home to look after his grandmother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's. The cousin that has looked after her until now is going to work in the United States, leaving nobody else to care for her.
Michel, who was forced by poverty to sell rice cakes on the street from the age of 13 and came to Korea after spending his 20s haunted by low wages and unemployment, acquired various titles while living in Korea as a “migrant worker.” In 2009, he became a chairman of the union, and the following year became the first ever foreign delegate in the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). “I didn't know about the labor movement in the Philippines, but I couldn't stand the unjustified abuse and unreasonable treatment in Korea,” he said. In 2007, Michel learned about the MTU while protesting against the unfair firing of a friend. After becoming chairman, he spent his days working in factories and his nights organizing workers. “A union where workers can discuss [issues] and make decisions themselves is absolutely necessary for the sake of migrant workers' rights,” he said.
Until now, the Korean government has not regarded the MTU's activities with pleasure. Three of its past chairpeople have been the objects of “target crackdowns” by immigration authorities and forcibly deported. Michel, whose residency status in Korea was legal, was not exiled following a crackdown, but once found himself in danger of being forcibly expelled. In February last year, Seoul Immigration Office cancelled his application for an extension of stay and ordered him to leave the country. In September, however, a judge at Seoul Administrative Court took Michel's side, saying, “I suspect that Seoul Immigration Office's handling of the case may have been because of the plaintiff's labor union activity.”
The Korean government is not a signatory to the UN's International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which stipulates the right of migrant workers and their families to be free from discrimination compared to citizens of the country where they work, and includes the right to form labor unions. Michel spoke sarcastically about this, saying, “As a member of the UN, Korea is only interested in benefits to itself. It doesn't fulfill its obligations.”
“Meeting people I admire, like Kim Jin-suk, Direction Committee member of the Busan branch of the KCTU, and Yu Myeong-ja of Eduwork, while working and engaging in labor activism in Korea, has been a really worthwhile experience,” said Michel. His affection for the Korean labor movement is such that he named his pet rabbit Chun Tae-il, the late South Korean labor activist . He plans to create a network of Filipino workers that have returned from Korea and international alliances between the KCTU and Filipino unions while looking after his grandmother.
Michel's last official engagement will be his farewell party on January 28(*), before leaving the Korea that he “loves and hates” on January 31.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/515773.html
* Michel's "farewell party" will start next Saturday at 8pm, in the office of MTU(KCTU Seoul Regional Council) near Bulgwang Stn(subway line no. 3/6)... For more info, please check out MTU's facebook site!!
While the official Germany marks the anniversary of Wannsee Conference (Spiegel, 1.20), when - 70 years ago - senior Nazi leaders coordinated plans for the Holocaust, i.e the complete annihilation of the European Jewish population...
...a new study by a German parliament-appointed commission shows 20% of Germans harbor "latent" anti-Semitism, but anti-Jewish crimes are almost exclusively committed by the far right.
The 188-page report – which draws on several different surveys and other research – puts Germans in the middle of the pack in Europe, with a German university survey showing more latent anti-Semitism in countries such as Poland, Hungary and Portugal, and less in Italy, Britain, the Netherlands and France.
The study released y'day said the surveys show that about one-fifth of Germans agree with anti-Semitic statements, such as "Jews have too much power in business."
Desecrated Jewish cemetery in Germany
The study also showed that 90% of anti-Semitic crimes are committed by right-wing extremists, who number about 26,000 according to official estimates.
It recommends better coordination of local, state and federal strategies to combat anti-Semitism.
The report makes reference to "a wider acceptance in mainstream society of day-to-day anti-Jewish tirades and actions".
“Anti-Semitism in our society is based on widespread prejudices, deeply rooted clichés and on sheer ignorance about Jews and Judaism," stated one of the report’s authors, Dr. Peter Longerich of the University of London, Holocaust Research Center.
The report cites the Internet as a contributing factor to the spread of anti-Semitic thought.
"With regard to modern forms of communication - we point to the Internet in particular - it is virtually impossible to prevent the spread of such thinking," Longerich continued...(*)
* Related article in German:
☞ Antisemitismus in Deutschland fest verankert (Spiegel, 1.23)
Last Friday(1.20) Yonhap reported that "South Korea called today for North Korea to enter into dialogue to ease tensions as Pyongyang stepped up its accusations against South Korea's conservative president."
"South Korea expects North Korea to quickly restore stability and react positively to dialogue," Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said in a meeting with 21 Seoul-stationed ambassadors of the European Union", the report continued.
And Pyeongyang's immediate reply, unsurprisingly: "F*ck you!!!"(summary^^)
Here the Pyeongyang's complete statement, published in KCNA(1.21):
The Lee Myung Bak group of traitors is now more noisily trumpeting about "dialogue" after rubbing salt into the wounds of fellow countrymen in the DPRK grieving over the great loss.
It is asserting that it would "make efforts to mend the fences with the north", talking about "door to an opportunity" and "removal of mutual mistrust."
It is highly ridiculous and shameless for the most hideous group of traitors to still vociferate about "dialogue" even after it received the DPRK's solemn declaration of no longer dealing with it.
How can the attitude the group took during the mourning over the great loss to the nation when even the sky and the land seemed to wail be interpreted as a simple ethical issue or a mistake of policy.
The group must be well aware that the DPRK has not made any concession nor shown any mercy over the issue related to the dignity of its supreme leadership.
The DPRK has never pardoned the Kim Young Sam's group of traitors for treachery it committed during the mourning over the passing of President Kim Il Sung and it will remain unchanged in its strong counter-action against the treachery.
This being a hard reality, the Lee group is brazen-faced enough to call for "dialogue" far from making even a single apology for its high treason.
This is touching off irrepressible resentment among the Korean people.
The DPRK will never regard the confrontation maniacs as a dialogue partner as they are groundlessly hurting the dignity of the DPRK and its system and insulting and slandering its people, denying the DPRK's reality in which the army and people are stepping up their general advance full of conviction with redoubled efforts by converting their sorrow into strength and courage.
It is foolish and preposterous for the group to try to calm down the resentment of all Koreans and divert elsewhere the south Koreans' attention on the point of eruption with the nonsensical story about "dialogue".
Its hypocritical wordplay is only triggering bitterer anger among compatriots.
The foe of the nation would be well advised to stop talking nonsense at once.
Here you can read the editorial in today's Kyunghyang Shinmun, related to the 3rd anniversary of the Yongsan Massacre (2009.01.19/20):
Yongsan Disaster Three Years on: What Has Changed?
In the early hours of January 20, 2009, fire broke out in the lookout tower on the roof of the Namildang Building at "Yongsan Zone 4" redevelopment site in Seoul. Five evictees conducting a sit-in protest to resist forcible demolition and one policeman lost their lives. This was the "Yongsan Disaster."
Today marks the third anniversary of the disaster. Almost nothing, however, has changed.
The eight evictees detained at the time of the incident remain behind bars, while the livelihoods of the surviving family members of those that died remain in jeopardy.
The pain caused to tenants by indiscriminate redevelopment projects, unrealistic relocation compensation and violent forcible demolition continues.
Following the Yongsan Disaster, the government amended the "Built Environment Renewal Development Act" to increase the compensation for lost business provided to evicted tenants from three to four months' worth. It also introduced a "sunset system" whereby the designation of renewal zones is repealed if redevelopment does not take place within a certain period of time.
The government, however, has failed to produce a fundamental policy to prevent forcible eviction and demolition. Because of this, incidents of clashes between tenants and hired thugs continue to occur in areas such as Seoul's Sangdo 4-dong, Bugahyeon-dong and Myeong-dong.
If a second Yongsan Disaster is to be prevented, relevant laws must be passed as a matter of urgency. United Democratic Party lawmaker Chung Dong-young and others yesterday tabled a proposed bill for a "law on banning forcible eviction."
The bill is one that would ban violent activity by hired thugs at redevelopment sites and stipulate criminal penalties for those that violated the law, as well as banning eviction at times such as winter, bad weather, before sunrise and after sunset.
The bill also introduces a concept it calls 'resettlement of local residents,' and clearly stipulates specific policies for the resettlement of residents when redevelopment takes place.
Not much of the 18th National Assembly's term remains, but the ruling and opposition parties will have to find the will to pass the bill during the assembly's provisional session this February.
Another issue that requires a resolution on the third anniversary of the Yongsan Disaster is getting to the truth regarding what went on and releasing the evictees currently in prison.
At the time of the incident, prosecutors said that fire had broken out when the occupying protesters sprayed paint thinner and threw Molotov cocktails, but the evictees' surviving family members claim there is no evidence to conclusively attribute the fire to the Molotov cocktails, and are demanding an investigation to discover the truth.
Another problem is the fact that leading police officers have received no reprimand or punishment whatsoever, despite the fact that excessively hardline suppression constituted one of the causes of the disaster.
Then-chief of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Kim Seok-ki, who resigned following the incident, rose to a position as consul general in Osaka, Japan, and has returned to Korea saying that he will run as a candidate in the April general election.
While nobody claimed responsibility, the eight evictees were sentenced to four to five years' imprisonment and remain in jail.
Ahead of the Seollal public holidays the government has issued special pardons, commutations and reinstatements to 955 criminals convicted of livelihood-related crimes, while lifting more than 3,000 administrative restrictions placed on construction companies as a special favor. The jailed evictees, however, were kept off the list.
We believe the way to provide at least a minimum amount of solace to those that lost their lives through the Yongsan Tragedy is to release the comrades that were locked up after protesting alongside them.
We also believe that tragic situations such as replays of the Yongsan Tragedy can only be prevented by providing relocation compensation for tenants with a sufficient amount of money in the short term, and turning the paradigm of redevelopment projects toward housing welfare and boosting local communities in the mid to long term.
http://english.khan.co.kr/khan_art_view.html?artid=201201201605247&code=790101
Related articles:
☞ 끝나지 않은 용산의 외침, “여기 사람이 있다” (NewsCham, 1.20)
☞ ‘용산참사 지휘’ 김석기 총선 출마에 “끔찍하다” (Hankyoreh, 1.20)
☞ 용산참사 총지휘 김석기 '총선 출마' 끔찍합니다 (OMN, 1.19)
Last Wednesday(1.11) we'd to learn that (according to a facebook source) "Our friend, photographer Park Jeong-geun who has been inspected by the 'National Security Law', became under arrest by 'infringing the National Security Law' today, as accepting an arrest warrent. Jung-geun has been RETWEETING the twitter account @uriminzok (account from North Korea) and made some black humor of 'Viva la Kim...!"(*)
* Related articles:
☞ In South Korea, Old Law Leads To New Crackdown (npr, 2011.12.01)
☞ South Korean Law Casts Wide Net, Snaring Satirists in a Hunt for Spies (NYT, 2012.01.07)
☞ 박정근 “에리카 김 만나 사랑도, 내곡동에 살고 싶기도” (Hankyoreh, 2012.01.17)
☞ 정봉주와 박정근, 표현의 자유 ‘그 사이’ (NewsCham, 2012.01.12)
And finally here you can read Jeong-geun's 'open letter' to "His Excellency Mr. President Lee Myung-bak", written three days ago in Suwon Police Detention Center!
Today's (2nd) article in Hankyoreh, related to the 3rd Yongsan Massacre anniversary:
Couple torn apart by Yongsan tragedy still hanging on
Husband and wife find strength in current social movements and in each other
It was 3 pm Saturday in the No. 6 reception room at Anyang Prison. Separated by a transparent acrylic barrier and iron bars, the husband and wife were speaking through gestures before the microphone came on. The wife, forty-year-old Jeong Yeong-sin, mimed eating to ask, "Have you eaten?" and mimed running to ask, "Have you exercised?" Dressed in prison blue marked with number "2944," her husband Lee Chung-yeon, 41, had a shy look on his face, but a broad smile spread over it. He nodded his head vigorously at his wife's questions.
The couple married in 2008 after dating for six years. But their simple wish for a happy home was crushed just six months later when redevelopment plans went into effect for the Zone 4 area of Seoul's Yongsan district, where the couple was living.
The area was the site of the couple's pub, called Rea, which they opened in 2006, as well as their home and Lee's parents' home. Lee was threatened with eviction without fair compensation from contracted "security employees", which led him to become the head of a residents' committee organized to resist the zone's demolition.
On Jan. 19, 2009, Lee and his father headed up to the lookout tower of the Namildang Building where the pub was located and began a protest "to survive." Within a day, a police commando unit descended on it. During the suppression effort, a fire broke out, claiming the lives of Lee's father and four other protesters, as well as one police officer. Lee and six other protesters fortunately escaped with their lives, but are now facing their fourth winter behind bars, accused of killing a policeman.
Jeong went into seclusion after her father-in-law's funeral, which came 355 days after his death. The reason was her anger over having to conclude negotiations without receiving any adequate apology or compensation.
"In the beginning, I didn't come out on the weekends for visits," she explained. "There were too many people looking happy on the weekends."
Her only friend was the wall-mounted television, which was the only thing she managed to keep from the pub after it descended into chaos. But even now, she shakes in terror at the memory of the tragic day whenever it shows a scene of fire.
It was the Hope Buses that helped Jeong finally shake off a bit of her sorrow and anger and step out into the world again. After reading a copy of Kim Jin-suk's book Salt Flower Tree, she said, she took part in all five campaigns to visit the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Busan office direction committee member during her protest at Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction, gaining courage in the process.
"The tens of thousands of people who rode on the Hope Bus joined in even though it was not their own problem," Jeong said. "But Yongsan is my problem. I made up my mind that I couldn't just stay at home anymore."
Since July 2011, Jeong has been working as a full-time activist with the Yongsan emergency measures committee. She meets with demolition protesters across the country to help buoy their spirits, and she is passionately committed to the campaign to enact a law prohibiting forcible evictions in order to make sure no tragedies like Yongan happen in the future.
The microphone came on in the reception room. From behind bars, Lee asked for the latest news about the third anniversary event for the tragedy that was set to take place the next day. "It's a good thing the weather isn't cold for the memorial," he said.
"Yeah," said Jeong. "We're going to go around the development zone and then head to Duriban [a noodle restaurant near Hongik University] in the evening. The chairperson said he'd buy us noodle soup."
Even after going from being an ordinary small business owner to living behind bars, Lee expressed a wish to visit Gangjeong Village on Jeju Island and the Hope Tents at Ssangyong Motors.
Relating news he heard during a recent visit by Park Jong-bu, elder brother of torture victim Park Jong-chul, Lee told his wife, "I found myself thinking that the world has changed so much thanks to their sacrifice and efforts, yet we've gotten a free ride in this world."
He also said, "This is a still a world where common sense doesn't prevail, but that's all the more reason we have to live with a sense of duty."
Jeong told him, "Just rest easy. I'll do it all for you."
Perhaps because they were being watched, the couple never exchanged the expected "I love you"s. When encouraged by the reporter, Lee said, "I know it just seeing her eyes."
Without making eye contact with her, he said, "I love you." A bright smile spread over her lips.
As Lee headed back to his cell after the short 12-minutes together, Jeong smiled and waved at him.
In the car on the way to Seoul, Lucid Fall's song about the Yongsan tragedy, "Ordinary People," was playing on the stereo.
"It's a world where things are tough for the 99% who are ordinary people," Jeong said.
"I want to do my best for the people who have been locked up, and for the demolition protesters in other redevelopment regions, before people forget about Yongsan," she explained.
As soon as she arrived in Seoul, Jeong hurried to Seoul Station to buy chrysanthemums for the memorial event the next day. The flowers were placed at the site of the Namildang Building in Yongsan, where redevelopment has been halted for the third straight year, just like the couple's newlywed life.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/515083.html
Today's Hankyoreh published the following piece:
Third anniversary of Yongsan Tragedy
The bereaved family members of five victims in the Yongsan Tragedy and members of civic organizations place flowers in memory of the victims on the site of forced evictions, Jan. 15. They said they would hold a week long memorial until the third anniversary of the incident on Jan. 20. The civic group are demanding a ban on forced eviction of tenants and punishment for those responsible for the incident.
The Yongsan Tradgedy caused the deaths of five protesting tenants and one police officer in a fire that broke out when hundreds of riot police officers and private security forces tried to evict some 30 tenants from a building they had occupied.
Related articles:
☞ 용산참사 3년, 박원순 시장에 보내는 명동세입자들의 편지 (NewsCham, 2012.1.15)
☞ The Fire on Dragon Hill (NewsCham, 2009.2.20)
[Jan. 13 ~ 14] Impressions from the "2nd Day of Siege" (at least 3000 activists joined the 'event'), to support the "Tent of Hope" village in Pyeongtaek:
Related articles:
☞ "비정규직, 정리해고 없는 세상 만들자” (MediaCC, 1.14)
☞ 3000명, 쌍용차공장을 희망으로 포위하다 (MediaCC, 1.14)
☞ 희망텐트촌 ‘2차 포위의 날’, 3천여 명 참가 예상 (NewsCham, 1.13)
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