5112개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
From yesterday's KCNA:
DPRK Proposes to Start of Peace Talks
The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea issued Monday the following statement:
A year has gone by while the process for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is standing at the crossroads due to serious challenges to it.
The denuclearization of the Peninsula is the goal of the policy consistently pursued by the Government of the Republic with a view to contributing to peace and security in Northeast Asia and the denuclearization of the world.
It was thanks to the sincere and exhaustive efforts of the Government of the Republic that dialogues had taken place for the denuclearization of the Peninsula since the 1990s and, in this course, such important bilateral and multilateral agreements as the "DPRK-US Agreed Framework" and the September 19 Joint Statement were adopted.
The implementation of all the agreements, however, stopped half way or was overturned. Since then the nuclear threat on the Korean Peninsula has not been decreased, but on the contrary it has further increased and, consequently, even nuclear deterrent came into being.
The course of the six-party talks which witnessed repeated frustrations and failures proves that the issue can never be settled without confidence among the parties concerned. Still today the talks remain blocked by the barrier of distrust called sanctions against the DPRK.
It is our conclusion that it is necessary to pay primary attention to building confidence between the DPRK and the United States, the parties chiefly responsible for the nuclear issue, in order to bring back the process for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula on track.
If confidence is to be built between the DPRK and the US, it is essential to conclude a peace treaty for terminating the state of war, a root cause of the hostile relations, to begin with.
When the parties are in the state of war where they level guns at each other, distrust in the other party can never be wiped out and the talks themselves can never make smooth progress, much less realizing the denuclearization. Without settling such essential and fundamental issue as war and peace no agreement can escape from frustration and failure as now.
The peace treaty by nature should have been already concluded in the light of its intrinsic necessity, regardless of the nuclear issue. Had durable peace regime been established on the Korean Peninsula long ago, the nuclear issue would have not surfaced.
Now that the issue of concluding the peace treaty is mentioned in the September 19 Joint Statement, too, it is good to move up the order of action as required by practice in the light of the lesson drawn from the failure of the six-party talks.
The conclusion of the peace treaty will help terminate the hostile relations between the DPRK and the US and positively promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at a rapid tempo.
Upon authorization, the DPRK Foreign Ministry courteously proposes to the parties to the Armistice Agreement an early start of the talks for replacing the AA by the peace treaty this year which marks the lapse of 60 years since the outbreak of the Korean War.
The above-said talks may be held either at a separate forum as laid down in the September 19 Joint Statement or in the framework of the six-party talks for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula like the DPRK-US talks now under way in view of their nature and significance.
The removal of the barrier of such discrimination and distrust as sanctions may soon lead to the opening of the six-party talks.
If the parties to the AA sincerely hope for peace and security and the denuclearization of the Peninsula, they should no longer prioritize their interests but make a bold decision to deal with the fundamental issue without delay.
http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2010/201001/news11/20100111-03ee.html
Related articles:
☞ US rebuffs N Korea peace pact call (al-Jazeera, 1.12)
☞ No Peace Treaty Before Nuclear Disarmament for N.K. (Chosun Ilbo, 1.12)
☞ Military keeping close tabs on N.K. movement (K. Herald, 1.13)
☞ Pyongyang gets a piece of US's mind (A. Times, 1.13)
From today's Hankyoreh:
Co-president of Justice for Yongsan Evictees says...
Fight for Yongsan was a successful struggle
Park Rae-gun says that although civic participation was weak during the struggle, enduring persistence eventually forced concessions from the Lee administration
“I came thinking it would be over in a month. It’s a bittersweet feeling...”
A few hours before turning himself in to police Monday morning, Park Rae-gun, 50, met with a Hankyoreh journalist and talked about the “great suffering” and “small joys” he has experienced as a man wanted by the police. He spent over ten months wanted by police while serving as co-president of Justice for Yongsan Evictees. Police were issued a warrant in early March 2009 to arrest him on charges of holding an illegal rally in connection with the Yongsan Tragedy.
Park was unable to attend the funeral for victims of the tragedy that was held on Saturday. He spoke of weeping as he watched a live broadcast via Internet together with two other individuals wanted by police, Justice for Yongsan Evictees co-President Lee Jong-hoe and Federation Against House Demolition head Nam Gyeong-nam. Park said, “I got through it thinking about the others who were suffering more than me, like the surviving family members and the evictees of the Yongsan 4th Zone.” He added, “Still, I should have been there with the family members as they said goodbye to their loved ones...”
What were Park’s thoughts on the agreement reached on Dec. 30 after a battle lasting close to a year? While some have expressed dissatisfaction, Park called it a successful struggle. Park said, “The Lee administration never once approached negotiations, persisting in a strategy of neglect and viewing it as a conflict between private citizens.” Park continued, “I think it was a success in that they were contending with the Lee administration, yet they managed to get the Prime Minister to say that he felt responsibility, and none of the family members or evictees gave up the fight during the course of the year.”
He also said that what kept the Yongsan struggle going was “the solidarity of poor and warm-hearted people.” Park stated, “Some of the conservative newspapers criticized us as ‘outside forces,’ but solidarity in the interest of human rights is a fundamental and a right.” Park added, “Yongsan is a beacon that has continued to give off light during this age.”
Park is not without his grievances. Discussing the fact that more people did not take part in the Yongsan struggle, Park said, “Yongsan was an ‘inconvenient truth’ for people.” He continued, “For people who hoped for a better life in a ‘New Town,’ Yongsan would have been uncomfortable because it told them, ‘Redevelopment is wrong and most people end up being driven out like this.’”
Another lament was the fact that broad-ranging civic and social groups did not take up the Yongsan struggle. “The Yongsan Tragedy, at its root, is an issue of state-sanctioned violence that took place during the push for brutal redevelopment policies, but the well-known civic and social groups ignored it, saying that that aspect ‘did not have popular appeal.’” He also pointed out, however, that there was a failure to see far enough ahead and provide a space early on where people could participate more easily.
After the interview was over, Park and the other two individuals wanted by the police left Myeong-dong Cathedral in Seoul’s Jung-gu district, where they had been granted asylum and had been staying since September 2009, and turned themselves in to the Seoul Namdaemun Police Station at around 3:40 p.m. on Monday. They were seen off by a crowd of some 100 people urging them to “stay strong,” including five family members of victims of the tragedy and evictees from the Yongsan 4th Zone.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/398395.html
A related video (by comrade "Hong Gil-dong..." you can watch here, here you can listen to an audio recording (YongsanActionRadio) and related photos you can see here!
Between last Thursday and y'day, once again, racism in Italy has been leading the int'l headlines...
Racist Attack - Migrants' Protest - Racist Pogrom
Italian authorities/cops and citizens expelled more than 1,000 migrant workers from Rosarno
Last Saturday(1.09): Between 1,000 (according to today's German 'left-alternative' daily TAZ) and 2,000 (Berliner Zeitung, 1.11) immigrants were expelled, resp. deported from the southern Italian town Rosarno after hundreds of racist residents violently attacked African migrant farm workers (*).
Locals applauded and cheered as buses with police escorts left, taking migrant workers from Rosarno to the towns of Crotone, 170 kilometres away, and Bari, around 400 kilometres to the northeast...
Last Thursday: Migrant workers in Rosarno protested against racial attacks...
...and inhuman 'living' and working conditions
But after they resisted the attacks by hundreds of (racist)residents...
...they were confronted with the 'state authority'...
...arrested and deported...
...to 'immigration centers'
* Related, resp. background articles:
☞ Rosarno: Racist attack provokes riot... (NoBordersBrighton, 1.08)
☞ Revolt in Rosarno - immigrants rise up (IMC UK, 1.09)
☞ Italians cheer as police deport African migrants (Observer, 1.10)
☞ Pope urges Italy to respect migrants (BBC, 1.10)
Impressions(*) from yesterday's Public Funeral Ceremony for the Victims of the Yongsan Massacre:
* More photo impressions you can see here (the public funeral ceremony in front of Seoul Stn. where at least 5,000 citizens and activists came together...), here (the evening funeral ceremony at the "Memorial for the Martyrs of the People's Struggle" near Maseok) and here!
Related reports (incl. many pics and some videos) by:
☞ VoP ☞ KCTU ☞ NewsCham ☞ OMN ☞ K.Times
The International Metalworkers' Federation(IMF) sent following protest letter to the S.K. gov't:
Remarks on the occasion of the Int'l Migrants' Day
Dear Prime Minister Chung Un-chan
As one of the first countries in Asia, the Republic of Korea has introduced a comprehensive legal framework protecting the rights of migrant workers. Under Korean law, migrant workers enjoy the same labour rights as their South Korean colleagues. Nonetheless, a recent report by Amnesty International on "Disposable labour: Rights of migrant workers in South Korea"(ASA 25/001/2009) illustrates that migrant workers are still exposed regularly to severe human rights abuses.
Even though protected by formal labour rights, many migrant workers cannot invoke those rights because of fear of reprisals from employers, language barriers and shortage of staff in job centers and labour offices. In particular, regulations and restrictions on changing jobs make migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation. Migrants do not dare to raise issues of abuse in the workplace, such as denial of overtime pay or sexual harassment or violence, as they are fully dependent on their current employer.
The Amnesty International report, furthermore, documents intances of arbitrary arrests and violations of law enforcement procedures, including in some cases excessive use of force. Moreover, the conditions in some detention facilities do not meet international standards such as Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoner and the Body of Principles for the Protection of All persons Under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment.
The Republic of Korea has made significant advancements in the legal protection of migrant workers' rights. Nonetheless, human rights violation still occur frequently. Therefore, further efforts have to be made to extend the legal protection of migrant legislation protecting the rights of migrant workers.
Therefore, on behalf of the German Metalworkers' Union IG Metall, representing 2.3million workers, and on behalf of the International Metalworkers' Federation(IMF), representing 25million metalworkers worldwide, I call on the Korean Government,
(1) to ratify and implement the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and the four fundamental ILO Conventions: no 87(freedom of association and protection of the right to organise); no 98(right to organise and collective bargaining); no 29(forced or compulsory labour); and no 105(abolition of forced labour)
(2) to address the lack of labour mobility of migrant workers which is a major reason for their exploitation by their employers(including amendment of Article 25 of the EPS Act in order to remove the restrictions on the number of times migrant workers can change jobs),
(3) to ensure that procedures for the arrest, detention and deportation of irregular migrant workers are in line with international human rights standards, and
(4) to ensure that conditions of detention are consistent with international human rights law and standards including Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoner and the Body of Principles for the Protection of All persons Under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment.
Sincerely,
Berthold Hüber
President of the International Metalworkers' Federation(IMF)
Chairman of the IG Metall(Industrial Trade Union Metal, Germany)
http://migrant.nodong.net/?document_srl=26290#0
'강성대국 그날이 눈앞에 다가온다'
While the entire D.P.R.K. descends into icy winter chaos and the "ordinary" people are suffering right now more than ever(*) KWP's propaganda dept. has released new posters - related to the 2010 New Year’s Statement / 주체99년 새해공동사설(**) - promulgating the "good news":
Translation:
1. 'A decisive change in the people’s lives!'
2. 'The day of the strong and prosperous state is just around the corner,' with, at the bottom, 'Everyone going forward to accomplish the New Year’s Statement’s tasks!'
3. 'The 65th anniversary of the founding of the Party,' with, along the bottom, 'Let’s create a noteworthy year in the history of the construction of the strong and prosperous state!'
* Yesterday's temperatures, e.g. in Hyesan: below -30 °C!
And there is no winter road clearance, heating fuel is rare, but power blackouts are common, (since late Nov., the beginning of the "currency reform") the price of rice is increasing almost daily...
** Related articles:
☞ N.K.’s New Year’s editorial on peace and the economy (Hankyoreh)
☞ New Year's Statement Just Words (Daily NK)
Burj Dubai (since yesterday's opening "Burj Khalifa"):
The Newest Landmark of the MEGALOMANIAC CAPITALISM...
...constructed in the last five years by the manpower of approx. 15,000 migrant workers, i.e. with their blood and sweat...
Their weekly working time: approx. 72 hours!
Their average monthly income: just $175!
Related contributions:
☞ Dubai: Inside the Labour Camps
☞ Dubai: Migrant Workers Strike
Today's impressions from Yongsan, near the site where the 1.20 Massacre took place:
Source of the pics: Yongsan Resistance Alliance
1. It seems that last Thursday(12.30) the Seoul Metro. Gov't and the surviving victims of the Yongsan Massacre reached an "agreement", or rather a deal...
More background information about the "agreement" you can get here:
☞ Seoul..Gov't, Yongsan tragedy family members reach a deal (Hankyoreh)
☞ Yongsan fire dispute settled in a year (JoongAng Ilbo)
But as far as it's known... not everyone is really happy with the deal! For example Mun Jeong-hyeon, a well-known (for the ruling class a 'notorious') Christian resistance activist who supported the struggle in Yongsan almost from the beginning, is discontent with the terms of the deal reached. He said, “When your body is sick you go to a hospital, but when a society is sick people do not seem to care.” Father Mun added, “If you look at this site as an example where those who died have been treated so coldly for so long, it appears the state of our society is not such a bright one.” The Catholic priest Jeon Jong-hoon, too, said with some remorse about the deal that it was more important to secure fundamental changes in the "redevelopment" policy so incidents like in Yongsan would not repeat themselves.
Related article:
☞ Yongsan settlement fails to address redevelopment policy.. (Hankyoreh)
2. Between the "Christmas" days and New Year several cultural events took place in Yongsan. Comrade Hong Gil-dong's videos (MUST SEE!!) about the "Illegal Concert"(12.27) and the New Year's Eve celebration are giving good impressions about the events (impressive photos you can see here and here).
Here you can listen to an audio recording from last Thursday's Solidarity Street Concert in Yongsan (pics you can see here)!
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