CINA

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Last Wednesday (1.20) evening: a few activists marked the 1st anniversary of the Yongsan Massacre with a "Memorial Culture Festival"...

The Hankyoreh (1.21) wrote following:

Marking the first anniversary of the Yongsan Tragedy

On the first anniversary of Yongsan Tragedy, the artists who created a graphic novel entitled 'Yongsan, where I had lived' embrace bereaved family members of the Yongsan Tragedy after presenting them with the books at the site of tragedy, Jan. 20.

This marked the first anniversary ceremony and final service for the Yongsan Tragedy. At the cememony, many artists, musicians, graphic novelists and actors performed culture performances for the bereaved family members and victims.

Kim Young-duk, the 56-year-old widow of the late Yang hee-seong, one of the Yongsan Tragedy victims, said at the ceremony that she will continue to fight until she finds out the real story and truth behind the tragedy. Kim said, “Please remember Yongsan.”

With the rainfall, approximately one hundred citizens took part in the remarks and performances as a last service for the victims.

Related:
☞ [1.20] ActionRadio's audio recording

☞ [1.20] KCTU report
 

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The following photo shows (allegedly!!) a North Korean girl visiting Mangyeongdae ('Kim Il-sung's birthplace' near Pyongyang):

In case the photo isn't just a fake:

Dear funny Jesus-lovin'(???) girl,

for sure you're a member of the "Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League"!
So you should know that there's only ONE GOD and this is the Great Leader Kim Il-sung (and Kim Jong-il is his sole, legitimate son, aka Son of God)! And you also should know that you have to love no other than the Great Leader (GOD) and the Dear Leader (his f*cking son)!!

PS:
In case that you've no idea about the (f*cking stupid) writing on your t-shirt: Sorry but... Ignorance is no excuse in law! (^^)

Related stuff:
☞ NK Girl Wears 'I Love Jesus' Shirt (K. Times, 1.22)

☞ Jesus at Mangyongdae (N.K. Economy Watch, 1.19)

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The articles of the (bourgeois) Korea Herald are usually - in the best case - complete featureless, with some very rare exceptions. And the following impressive piece, published last Tuesday(1.19), belongs to those rare exceptions:

Yongsan Evictees in the Struggle of their Lives

By Matthew Lamers and Hannah Chang

Choi Soon-kyung and Yu Young-sook aren't after revenge. And justice isn't their only priority. Their biggest concern since Choi's restaurant was forcefully closed and Yu's husband was killed during a police raid is to exercise their right to make a decent living.

On a mild Nov. 4, 2008 morning, Choi says sledgehammer-wielding "gangsters" hired by construction companies showed up at her restaurant as diners sat down to brunch and smashed to pieces everything they couldn't carry away. This occurred even though the government had said she had until Nov. 28 to close shop and relocate. Her restaurant sat on land slated for redevelopment and the men, officially referred to as movers, were carrying out an eviction order issued by Seoul City.

Critics say Choi's situation is illustrative of how the Yongsan District 4 redevelopment has been carried out. It involves hired "movers," intimidation and ultimately the killing of five protestors and one policeman.

Since its unveiling in 2007, the project has faced resistance from local communities. The tenant eviction process started in August 2008. Faced with few options, most accepted small amounts of compensation. Others fought.

 
Emotions reached boiling point on Jan. 20, 2009 when police raided a building that protestors had been holed up in since the previous day. Five protestors and one police officer were killed in the ensuing battle - including Yu's husband - which pitted Molotov cocktail-armed resisters against aggressive SWAT police.

At the heart of the issue for the former residents is their ability to maintain their standard of living. Most urban planners agree that a smooth redevelopment project hinges on the concept of reciprocation: The end result should not leave tenants worse off than they were before. But friction has resulted from the fact that most of Seoul's redevelopment projects over the past few decades have resulted in relatively small tenant compensation packages. After all is said and done, too many tenants say they are worse off post-redevelopment.

Also driving discontent on both sides of the debate are tactics employed by either side. Evictees say they face intense intimidation, inadequate representation and physical coercion. While those on the redevelopment side say evictees' demands are unreasonable and actions disproportionate.

The case of Choi Soon-kyung

Choi Soon-kyung lives in a tent with other evictees. In this interview, it has been just over two weeks since protestors were killed in the Yongsan raid. She speaks of justice, but she mostly wants to talk about her right as a Korean citizen to earn a living.

The interviews are conducted February 2009 to January 2010.

"If they were going to have an early eviction, they should have at least notified me at least once. Isn't this a basic right? Isn't this common sense?" she asks. "If they had evicted me on the day they had told me they would, I wouldn't have had any other choice but to follow the law and leave. But they didn't keep their end of the deal."

She takes us to the site of her once-bustling restaurant, Bokyung Shikdang. We find it enclosed behind a 3-meter-high metal fence.

The walk through the redevelopment zone is unreal. Picture Seoul, circa 1951 - indiscriminate destruction. A photo album lays open in the rubble showing once-happy times for newlyweds. Structures remain barely intact; most less so than others. "Leave your home or you will die," reads some graffiti. "Lee Myung-bak is a killer," reads its rebuttal. A homeless man sleeps in the storefront of a dilapidated building.

The limbo of the neighborhood is palpable. There's no running water or electricity. But a few hardcore resisters still live here.

Walking through the unkempt streets, Choi further explains that her first priority in her struggle is to secure a livelihood. But over the course of the interviews, the desire for a full account of the Jan. 20 incident heightens. As evictees lose hope for fair compensation, calls for accountability become louder.

"Please take the tenants into consideration. Understand our stance and give us appropriate compensation. Give us the rights and means to live in another place. Afford us the chance to move and start a business in another place. They should give us the right to live and survive. This is all we need, more than the compensation," she says.

The core of Choi's demands has been a call for the placement of a temporary building where she could live in and do business from while the redevelopment work goes forward. She is also sensitive of the negative image of her that has been propagated by some pro-development media outlets. In later interviews she voices the need for more compensation.

"I am very sorry to the citizens who are watching our miserable news. ... But we are not bad people. I want them to just understand that we are not terrorists. We are just innocent people who want to maintain our rights to live as citizens of the Republic of Korea," she pleads.

Choi was offered 2.9 million won as compensation, an amount she describes as so inadequate it wouldn't be enough to operate a "pojangmacha," or a covered street wagon, to sell simple food.

"All I have now are these clothes I was wearing then."

In the next interview, a week later, Choi tells of the months between her eviction and the time she joined the National Evictee's Alliance in January 2009. She describes this time as "the lowest of the low," because she had nowhere permanent to live. Some nights she'd stay in a small room in a closed-down billiard hall, another night she would make do in a shuttered cafe.

"I've been to many others' shops. One of them was (a friend's) cafe, since there were no fences to keep us out. The fencing started in January. Though we couldn't do business, we had been able to get inside, at least." The mammoth fences were erected to keep evictees out of their former homes and businesses.

"I kept visiting my neighbors, going around and around. I was very sorry they had to put up with me. ... But tears of blood flowed from my heart. I didn't want others to notice," Choi admits.

Since moving into the tent with the other evictees in January, she says she has been much less desperate. It's much better, she says, now that they can make meals together in this tent. Eating had been her biggest concern.

The tent is cold - it being the second week of February at the time of the interview - but it has a small fridge, heater, and kitchen supplies. It's adequate, but nothing more. She does laundry at a friend's house. But sometimes she has to clean her clothes at a "mokyoktang," or bathing house.

"I often hear many critical words from other customers when I do my laundry there because it smells when I keep them there to dry," she says. "This life as it is, is the lowest of the low. I have no money."

In the next interview in late February, Choi explains how she came to call Yongsan home.

At the time Park Chung-hee was president in the 1960s and 1970s, Choi ran a Japanese restaurant in Jeolla Province. She says she eventually closed the business because of her hard economic situation. Later, she moved back to Yongsan.

She started a shop (next to the tent she now lives in). After selling it, she founded Bokyung Shikdang in 1993 with a loan of 40 million won from the bank. The business was successful and she was able to repay her debts.

But during the IMF crisis in 1997 she was forced to borrow 30 million won from the bank to keep Bokyung Shikdang afloat.

In July 2008, Choi received notice from the district court that her area was due to be redeveloped. She was given three notices saying her eviction date would be Nov. 28. The "movers" showed up on Nov. 4.

In an interview in March, Choi talks at length about finally being granted low-income assistance from the government.

Two days after her restaurant was closed, Choi made a trip to the district office on Nov. 6, 2008 to apply for government support for basic living expenses. She did not receive anything until February. The delay, she says, was attributed to her not having a mailing address, so the district office told her to move. But she says if she followed their instructions, it would have made her ineligible for redevelopment compensation, since she would no longer have been a resident of Yongsan District 4.

Her solution was to make the tent she had been living in for two months her home address. The district office accepted the application and has been issuing low-income assistance checks worth 400,000 won.

In the next interview in August, Choi describes a less precarious position. She says she is generally happier, but justice still has not been carried out. Five evictees were sentenced to terms in prison. It is Choi's position that the public prosecutors have been concealing thousands of pages of the 10,000 page investigation into the Jan. 20 fire.

The living conditions have improved since they moved out of the tent and into an abandoned, adjoining building. It is a former bar owned by a man killed in the Jan. 20 fire.

For the first time, she speaks of forgiveness. But although Choi admits she is ready to forgive, she is still pursuing justice. "Now I feel calmer than before. I think I am ready to forgive, but I still believe the government should admit their faults and apologize to the citizens."

She also responds to criticism that the evictees are blowing the Jan. 20 deaths out of proportion. As the months have passed, some have said they should focus more on an amicable resolution.

"It's a matter of perspective. Among the people who passed away during the fire in January include two people from our district, and three from other places. Those people had come to our aid to help the evictees here - we're all in it together. And I think we are almost at the finishing line."

As it turns out, they aren't almost at the finishing line. Developments over the next five months are few and far between. Evictees waited until the second-last day of 2009 to hear that a settlement had been reached.

But the deal Seoul strikes with the Yongsan Coalition doesn't seem to sit well with all of the remaining evictees.

The evictee coalition said the settlement has three parts. 1) Prime Minister Chung Un-chan will show remorse to the families of the killed protestors. He will acknowledge the government's responsibility in the Jan. 20 incident; 2) The redevelopment association will allocate the Yongsan Coalition money to distribute among families of the deceased protestors and the remaining evictees. The cash will also be used to pay for the funeral; 3) Intermediaries from different religious groups will monitor the implementation of the settlement.

But Choi said she's still waiting for the prime minister's apology.

"We feel this is very ridiculous. The only thing revealed was the compensation for the funeral and nothing else. How could they possibly not have come up with any resolutions for the other conditions that we have been demanding?" she asks.

She says they are waiting for 1) more compensation for the eviction; 2) the right to purchase rental apartments; 3) a temporary container or a building to continue business during the construction.

"Although the funeral is over, my heart cannot be at ease. I feel I have been deceived by the city government and the related redevelopment companies. These are the feelings and thoughts that we evictees all share," she explains.

Choi said she expects the Yongsan Coalition to make an announcement on Jan. 26 regarding the distribution of the settlement.

"Everyone anticipated that everything would come to a conclusion with the funeral. However, this wasn't the case at all. None of the other demands we have been making to the city-government were addressed and are pending. ...

"We are all waiting for that day."

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/01/19/201001190045.asp

Related (supplementing) article:
☞  Seoul's redevelopment dilemma (K. Herald, 1.20)

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"Guitars should be a means to liberation, not exploitation. No one should have their job taken away because they stand up for their rights" Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine.

For more than 1000 days, S. Korean guitar workers and their supporters have protested against their illegal mass firing by Cort/Cor-tek Guitars.

January 8 -17: S. Korean and U.S. labor unions, community organizations, musicians, artists, and NAMM trade show attendees joined the Cort Action campaign in LA and Anaheim. Organizations and people lent their skills, their voices, and ideas and took the stage in public spaces in LA and in front of NAMM to amplify the struggle of the Cort/Cor-tek workers for their livelihoods and for worker rights:

Related articles:
☞ Musicians to join S.Korean union's struggle with Cor-Tek (Hankyoreh, 1.06)

☞ Rage's Tom Morello leads protest at NAMM show (MusicRadar, 1.14) 

☞ Morello Protests Outside NAMM Conference (Exploiting in Sound, 1.16) 

☞ 미 기타 회사 휀더, 콜트 문제 자체 조사 시작 (참세상, 1.20)
  
For more info (incl. pics and videos) please check out:

☞ Cort Guitar Workers ACTION! 

☞ 콜트콜텍 + 문화행동
 

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The following headline...

"S. Korean MoD Vows Preemptive Strikes Against N. Korea"

...in today's int'l media (here in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth) proves that political cretinism is not Pyongyang's exclusive possession!

Today's Yonhap reported following:

S. Korea will launch preemptive strike in case of imminent nuclear attack

A preemptive strike would be the only way for South Korea to defend itself if it were to confirm North Korea has clear intentions of launching a nuclear attack, Seoul's chief of defense said Wednesday.

The latest remarks by Defense Minister Kim Tae-young come as the two Koreas opened a second day of talks on further developing a joint industrial complex in the North. The talks came just days after Pyongyang warned of armed action against the South over unconfirmed reports that Seoul has drawn up a contingency plan in case of a regime collapse in the communist country. 
 

"We would have to strike (North Korea) right away if we detected that it has a clear intention to attack (South Korea) with nuclear weapons," Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told a local defense forum.

"It would be too late and the damage would be too big if, in the case of a North Korean nuclear strike, we had to cope with the attack. There can be no changes to this principle."

Kim made similar remarks in 2008, then as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shortly after Pyongyang test-fired several short-range missiles off its west coast. In a show of anger, North Korea kicked out a number of South Korean officials then working at inter-Korean project sites. The country also threatened "more powerful" attacks of its own...

And today's Korea Times added:
In regards to North Korea's increased military exercises in recent weeks, Defense Minister Kim said South Korea and the United States had mobilized all their intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to closely monitor nuclear or missile activities in the North. "If the North makes a provocative move, we'll thwart it on the spot...'' Kim said.

And finally 'our favored'(^^) Chosun Ilbo used today's opportunity to add following article (yeah, the 'Dear Leader' will love it!!!):

☞ Think Tank Predicts Kim Jong-il's Death in 2012

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One week ago I wrote(*) about the latest wave of racist violence in Europe (in the south Italian town Rosarno).

But oddly enough this act of racist barbarianism passed without any consequences!

While the issue dissapeared soon after it happens, the Italian (and European) left/progressive opposition lapsed into silence... Except last Thursday's Solidarity declaration (by ATIK) there has been almost no official/public statement (of protest) or solidarity rally/demo by the left, incl. the so-called "communist" parties, the left/progressive trade unions, human right organisations or the anti-fascist movement (at least there has been no report about such activities).

* "Racist Attack - Migrants' Protest - Racist Pogrom" (1.11)

Related article:
☞ Italy: a country united by racism (Guardian, 1.10)

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Almost one year ago I reported (with some satisfaction): "IMC S.K. Reactivated!!"...

But how's IMC S.K. these days?

Since several days its website - yet again - disappeared! And - once again - it seems that the project is approaching its final stage...

Therefore some guys who are still interested in the project's survival are calling for renewed (or just final??) efforts to revive IMC S.K.:

The next (South)Korea Indymedia general meeting will be held at the (Yongsan)Rhea Candle Light Media Center, 4pm, Jan 17, Sunday.

Everybody come!

Agenda contents (please add more):

1) new tech team formation; website redesign; learning html and php code
2) outreach and planning possible events
3) content production; film production for the new Korea IMC channel on YouTube
4) Etc...

http://blog.jinbo.net/imc/?pid=91

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Well, I already wrote almost one month ago about 'Noko'(Made in DPRK) - a f*cking great idea to make some easy money by exploiting N. Korean female workers...

Now, a few days ago (1.08) the bourgeois German magazine Der Spiegel published the...

The Real Story Behind North Korean Jeans

(Dictatorship Denim)

It was an idea born out of a late night of drinking, but it quickly became reality. Three Swedish men have established a line of jeans made in North Korea and sold in Stockholm. But they weren't prepared for the criticism their pants have produced.

They were three young, hung-over Swedish men who had been out drinking the night before to drown their sorrows -- and they had an idea. They sent an e-mail to North Korea. The subject line read: "Investing in the Democratic People's Republic." More than two years later, a shipment of 1,100 designer jeans arrived in Stockholm. There were two models -- "Kara," a slim fit, and "Oke," a loose fit -- and they were made in Pyongyang.

This is the story of an experiment. How does one gain access to one of the most sealed-off countries in the world? In the digital age, North Korea is the last remaining bit of terra incognita in the Worldwide Web. Whereas Jakob Ohlsson, 23, Tor Rauden Källstigen, 24 and Jacob Aström, 25, spend a lot of time online, and they are never without their laptops.

On that July 20, 2007, the three Swedes were skimming North Korea's "official Web page" and discovered a new button, titled "Business." After only two mouse clicks, they found themselves looking at a list of possible North Korean export goods: cosmetics, trucks, marble, weapons, mineral water, fire extinguishers and -- jeans. They wrote to the contact address, claiming that they were import-export managers for a fictitious company, and they waited. Less than 24 hours later, a friendly Mr. Sapmak wrote back and thanked them for their interest. It was the beginning of "Noko Jeans."

Aura of Credibility

In November 2007, the three Swedes made their first telephone call to the North Korean Embassy in Stockholm. Ohlsson said: "I'm calling from Stockholm." The embassy spokesperson replied: "That's nearby. We also live in Stockholm." Ohlsson: "We have started this company…" Embassy spokesperson: "It'll be Christmas soon." Otherwise, the North Koreans promised the Swedes whatever support they could provide. The three Swedes brought along Ohlsson's father, a suit-wearing dentist, to their first meeting to add an aura of credibility.

In December 2007, they gave a North Korean delegation two sample pairs of jeans, including a used pair owned by one of the three Swedes, for inspection at a textile factory in Pyongyang. In the spring of 2008, they sent the North Korean Embassy a wish list for their upcoming trip to the North Korean capital: a visit to a computer center, meetings with ordinary young people in Pyongyang and "mass games," a North Korean specialty which sees huge numbers of performers take part in highly choreographed spectacles.

The embassy replied with its own agenda, which included visits to the mausoleum of the "Great Leader," former President Kim Il-sung, a statue of the Great Leader and the Great Leader's collection of gifts from foreign dignitaries, including a bear's head from former Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, a crocodile leather suitcase from former Cuban President Fidel Castro, and a bulletproof limousine from former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

'Night in Pyongyang'

On July 27, 2008, when the Swedes arrived in Pyongyang on a train from Beijing, their minders met them at the station: Mr. Dong, Ms. Lee and a man who was introduced as "Mr. Driver." They spent their first evening together in the karaoke bar at the Koryo Hotel, which would later serve as the inspiration for the names they gave their two models (Kara and Oke).

At the bar, the Swedes and their hosts alternated between singing North Korean marching songs and Beatles songs, and the evening ended with a joint version of "Night in Pyongyang," a ballad often played on the state-owned radio network. The Swedes were familiar with the song from the Internet.

They spent the next 10 days visiting textile factories, but without success. They did manage to fit in a trip to the terrarium at the Pyongyang zoo, to which a Swedish TV star had once donated used equipment and a few wild animals. The three Swedes thought that even the crocodiles looked sad.

On their last day in North Korea, they finally met the director of a mining operation that included both a zinc processing and a textile division. The deal was sealed with a handshake, a group photo and Swedish vodka. They decided on black jeans. The Swedes had discovered that the North Koreans were hesitant to produce blue jeans, apparently because they were perceived as an American symbol. On the other hand, the director was very interested in the possibility of the young foreigners perhaps creating a Web page for his business.

A year later, in the summer of 2009, the Swedes, who worked for a marketing company, returned to North Korea to ensure that the North Korean women who worked in the factory, wearing red work coats and red caps, were sewing correctly. They were, but unfortunately they were missing the buttons, which had become stuck somewhere en route from Pakistan to Pyongyang.

So Tremendously Complex

On Nov. 11, 2009, the jeans finally arrived in Stockholm, but then the experiment turned into a problem. The department store where the Swedes had planned to sell their Noko Jeans from North Korea refused to cooperate, claiming that it didn't want to become involved in politics.

A public debate erupted in Sweden over whether it was ethically permissible to produce jeans in a dictatorship that confines its own people to labor camps and threatens the world with nuclear weapons.

The three Swedes have since become more cautious about the things they say. "We don't believe in isolation," they say. "We believe that any outside influence can only be a good thing for such a country." And they say: "We aren't a fan club for North Korean policy." They say that they saw the human beings behind the mass games, and that they made friends in North Korea, including Ms. Lee. They say that everything is so tremendously complex.

But this is also a story of self promotion. The Swedish trio has just opened their own shop in Stockholm -- which includes both jeans and a museum of North Korea. They seem to have learned all about propaganda in Pyongyang.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,670826,00.html