5112개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Venezuela - another point of view:
Opposition Against the "Bolivarian Revolution"
Of course it's wellknown that the US administration is (simply said^^) in a strong opposition against H. Chavez' project of the "Bolivarian Revolution" or the so-called "Socialism of the 21st Century". Their bourgeois collaborators in Venezuela - of course - are also fighting against it.
But just few years ago we'd to learn that even the (hard-core) orthodox communists in Venezuela (in contrast to their int'l sister organizations, such as the Communist Party of Germany/Red Morning, the former KPD/ML), like Partido Bandera Roja(Red Flag Party) were/are in direct opposition against Chavez' government.(*)
Now - just yesterday - I found an article written by anarchists in Venezuela and I'd to learn that they are also in complete opposition against the current system. For example they called for "election abstention" last December..
Anarchist propaganda poster:
Protest rally against the "State exploitation of the
natural resources (carbon) in the territories of the natives"
For more details:
☞ LIBERTARIO/Anarchists in Venezuela (mainly in Spanish, but also some stuff in English)
* 'Like many others, Jennifer Salsedo, a member of the Stalinist group Bandera Roja (Red Flag), found herself in a coalition with members of the liberal and centre-right parties opposed to Mr Chávez.
But ideological differences had been put to one side.
"We are on the left, but what he has done is rob us of debate on the left. Right now there is no ideology," she said as other members of Bandera Roja waved flags in time to the rapping of one of their party cadres.
"Right now our war is against the hatred and deception that this man has sown throughout the country. The fraud is against everyone: he invented the Bolivarian Republic, but what does that mean?
"He invented a new market, but it has the same goods as before. He invented a Bolivarian university. What on earth is that?"' (Guardian, 2004.8.14)
THE FUTURE OF GAESEONG
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
A Perfect Tool for the S.K. Capitalists to
Make Maximum Profits
"If completed as scheduled, the Kaesung Industrial Region will include not only labor intensive ones but also heavy industries and high-tech firms, becoming one of the busiest industrial centers of East Asia." (DailyNK, 3.20).
This development will lead to mass dismissals in S.K. and more massive exploitation of the N.K. working class!
Following article, published in today's Hankyoreh gives just one simple example of the likely future (if the S.K. capitalists and their collaborators in the DPRK are able to achieve their goals without the resistance of the Korean working class!!):
S.K. textile industry looks to joint
North-South industrial park
Combination of low wages, high skills cited by companies ’moving North’
Seo Sang-ik, 77, chairman of mid-size clothing company BMX, has been seriously considering moving his production facilities to the joint North-South Korean Gaeseong (Kaesong) Industrial Complex, located just across the border in North Korea.
Having worked as a businessman for over 40 years, Seo judges the Gaeseong park, with its reportedly low wages and highly skilled workers, as a way to ensure a bright future for his company.
Seo has operated a clothing factory since the 1970s. At that time, South Korea’s textile and sewing industries were representative exports of the nation. But since the 1990s, an increase in wages has elevated the standard of living but also cost the nation its competitive edge in the textile industry. To try to stay afloat, Seo built a factory in Guatemala, and another in Dalian, China. However, he was unable to keep the Guatemala factory open, and the situation in China has greatly changed, as well, with Seo finding it hard to find workers. He blames this on the Chinese government’s attitude toward textiles as a "low value-added" industry in the midst of its feverish push to become an economic superpower. In addition, wages have risen in China, so that Seo finds he has to pay a minimum monthly wage of US$150 per worker.
"I heard that wages for [North Korean] workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex are as low as $57 a month, and that the workers have higher skills than those in China," said Seo.
A Gaeseong fever has been sweeping the South Korean textile industry. Since the February 13 agreement on ending North Korea’s nuclear programs, the draw has become even stronger.
Ahead of an additional sale of business spots at Gaeseong next month, more than 200 companies took part in a seminar about the industrial complex held March 7-9 by the Korea Federation of Textile Industries. Up to 86 firms submitted applications to move their factories to the Gaeseong complex, out of 32 slots.
The textile industry has honed in on the Gaeseong Industrial Complex due to the remarkable performance of firms which moved into the model complex in Gaeseong last year. Shinwon Corporation recorded an operational surplus after eight months, citing the harmoniousness of relations between management and labor. The company’s Gaeseong productivity levels are approaching nearly 80 percent of the productivity at its South Korean factories. Moonchang Industry, a uniform-maker that supplies larger brand-name companies, has also been very successful in Gaeseong.
Park Chang-ryeol, an official of the Korea Federation of Textile Industries, said that with Moonchang Industry’s success, large companies also have positively been recommending their subcontractors move into the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
Indeed, Gaeseong has become the ultimate choice for survival for a number of textile companies.
"Even the best companies with state-of-the-art equipment won’t be able to survive [in South Korea] after two or three years because of the increase in cost and the banks’ concept of textiles as a declining industry," warned Kim Yeong-geol, an executive of a cooperative for textile companies in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. About ten of the 46 member firms of the cooperative hope to move to Gaeseong, he added.
In fact, the first companies to head to Gaeseong were largely in the textile industry. These companies are occupying a large portion of the already full-to-capacity model complex and main complex of the industrial park. The reasons for the growth of this ’textile city’ are severalfold. The textile industry is labor-intensive and doesn’t need advanced machinery, which cannot be brought into North Korea because they are classified as "strategic goods." Moreover, products whose simple needlework is done in the Gaeseong complex can still be recognized as South Korean-made goods in overseas markets as long as the fabric and materials originate from South Korea.
However, the vision of the textile industry is not solely a rosy one. The companies there are worrying about a potential imbalance of labor supply and demand. Most textile companies seek skilled female workers in their 20s or 30s, but the Gaeseong complex has only less than 20,000 of such workers available, a number expected to not keep up with demand. Complicated customs procedures for bringing materials in and products out of North Korea is another detriment to working at Gaeseong.
Overall, however, the Gaeseong Industrial Complex has a potential to grow into an important world textile hub, some industry observers say. "To compete with Chinese-made goods, the Gaeseong complex should become a complex for the textile industry, complete with all procedures from yarn to spinning, dyeing, and sewing," said Park Hun, a researcher of the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, adding that "for maximization of cost efficiency, companies should be allowed to access nearby ports as well as land routes."
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_business/197551.html
Related article:
☞ Analysis of Kaesung Industrial Region's Future (DailyNK, 3.20)
To check out the subject:
☞ Gaeseong Industial (i.e. Exploitation) Complex
"SHUT DOWN ALL IMMIGRATION
DETENTION CENTERS!"
Under that motto yesterday afternoon in downtown Seoul a (really) small migrant workers' rally took place. It was organized by MTU and many - the issue of migrants in S.K. supporting - groups, organizations and political parties (although unfortunately only a minority of them finally joined actively the rally).
3월 18일 오후 3시 청계천 열린광장에서 '여수 외국인 '보호소' 화재참사 책임회피·진상왜곡 정부규탄대회'가 열렸다. 민주노총 서울/경기 본부, 민주노동당, 민주노동당 서울시당, 이주노동자노동조합, 사회진보연대, 다함께 등 여러 단체에서 이 집회에 참가했다.
발언자들은 정부가 여수화재 참사를 미등록 이주노동자의 방화로 규정짓고, 몇푼의 돈과 솜방망이 책임자 처벌로 사태를 무마하려는 것에 분노하며 강제추방중단과 이주노동자 합법화의 필요성을 주장했다.
집회가 끝난 뒤 참가자들은 청계광장을 지나는 시민들에게 리플릿 반포와 서명, 모금을 받는 캠페인을 진행했다.
여수 화재참사 대책위에서는 참사 49일 째가 되는 오는 4월 1일에 대규모 집회를 개최할 예정이다. (source: All Together/다함께)
For more about the event (mainly pics) please check out following:
☞ 여수 보호소 화재참사 진상왜곡, 책임회피, 정부규탄대회
☞ 여수 외국인 '보호소' 화재참사 책임회피·진상왜곡 정부규탄대회
"In Seoul on March 18, foreign workers protest the results of a
police investigation into a February 11 fire at an immigration
detention center in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, which killed
nine foreigners. The protesters said that the police ruling, which
was that a foreign worker started the blaze, was based on
insufficient evidence, and that officials responsible for the
conditions at the Yeosu detention center should be punished
for their role in the tragedy." (Hankyoreh, 3.19)
*****
A (not really) related article about the migrant workers' issue in S.K. you can read here:
☞ Illegal Immigrants to Get Help Returning Home (Korea Times, 3.19)
(BTW.. undocumented migrant workers don't want "returning home"! They just want to get a legal status in S.K. and the possibility to earn enough money to feed their families in their home countries! Simply they want/need - and struggle for - WORK VISA!!)
Yesterday's Peace Rally/Demo in Seoul
Well, actually, when I understood the Korean reports well, it was a little better than the last peace/anti-war demos in Seoul. According to Jinbonet/Chamsesang 1,500 people (according to VoP 1,000 people) joined the event.
The riot cops were prepared for CIVIL WAR^^! Thousands of them were ready to SMASH THE REVOLUTION^^! But unfortunately the revolution was not scheduled..(What a surprise!!)^^
Related articles and pictures:
☞ 3.17 국제공동반전행동...경찰의 집회 방해는 여전 (VoP report, incl. 2 videos)
☞ 국민행동, '3.17 이라크 침략 4년 규탄 국제공동반전행동' (Tongil News report)
☞ “이라크 점령 종식! 즉각 철군!” (Chamsesang report)
☞ 3.17 반전집회서 이주노동자단체들 이주인권 캠페인 진행 (Blog report)
☞ 20070317 - 국제공동반전행동 (Photo report)
이주노동자.. 反戰투쟁
제국주의 박살내자!
(毛主席..!!)
PS:
Of course N.K.'s KCNA mentioned the event (even it took four days for them to check the "news" from the South^^):
U.S. War of Aggression Denounced in S. Korea
A meeting and a demonstration were reportedly held in Seoul on March 17 under the sponsorship of the south Korean People's Action against Troop Dispatch.
The meeting titled the "international joint action against war to denounce the U.S. on the lapse of four years after its aggression of Iraq" took place in the plaza of Seoul Railway Station.
Speakers at the meeting disclosed the wars of aggression committed by the U.S. in different parts of the world in recent years and denounced it for invading Iraq and killing Iraqi people in a brutal way.
Noting that the south Korean "government" dispatched troops to the U.S. war of aggression but it resulted in death of innocent young people, they denounced the "government" for its persistent troop dispatch.
The U.S. pays lip service to the improved relations with the DPRK externally but is planning to stage war drills against it internally, they pointed out, urging the U.S. not to mock at the world people with its double-dealing tricks any longer but opt for the road to peace.
Solidarity letters from peace movement organizations in various countries were introduced at the meeting.
A resolution, read out at the meeting, demanded that the U.S. stop the wars of aggression of Iraq and Afghanistan at once and the south Korean "government" withdraw the overseas-dispatched troops.
At the end of the meeting the participants held a demonstration.
Information activities and a signature campaign denouncing the U.S. war of aggression were conducted around the venue of the meeting.
3.17 ANTI-WAR RALLY/DEMO
in Seoul
일시 : 3월 17일(토) 오후 3시
장소 : 서울역
Tomorrow (Sat.), 3 pm
Seoul Stn
..protests in Latin America during the "devil's" (H. Chavez about G. W. Bush) visit there:
F.. off, you f.. mother f..!!
NO FURTHER COMMENT..
*****
"F.. USA.. - ..Miguk bandae.."
harrharr~ I'm really sorry!
But finally it's all the same sh..
3.17 Anti-war rally/demo in Seoul (propaganda video):
Source: 파병반대국민행동
PS:
The background music - the German band Rammstein, some people are calling them the modern sound of Nazism (??) - is completely senselessly. "Amour (Love).. is a wild animal.. Please give me poison.".. It's like someone would use Jaurim as background music for a documentary about Auschwitz (aeh~ of course Jaurim have nothing to do with Nazism!! And the Iraq War is not to compare with Auschwitz..).
And about Yoon Jang-ho.. NO COMMENT anymore!!
&
"(Our) party will head towards reconciliation with a progressive and enthusiastic attitude." (*)
(Kim Choong-whan, GNP/한나라당)
GNP to soften stance on N.K. (K. Herald, 3.13)
The conservative Grand National Party has announced that it will make a fundamental change to its hard-line approach to North Korea in light of improving relations following the latest breakthrough in the nuclear talks.
"While we will maintain the principles of our North Korean policies, we will put efforts into fundamentally changing the direction of the policies," said Kim Choong-whan, vice floor leader of the largest parliamentary bloc.
The GNP has been the representing voice for conservative and right-leaning voters of the South. It has clashed with the incumbent government as well as the prior Kim Dae-jung administration for their engagement policies towards the North.
"We will, from now on, condone and encourage various activities related to North Korea such as visiting Pyongyang, Gaeseong and Mount Geumgang for the exchange of business," Kim said.
The GNP's announcement comes amidst rising speculation that the Roh Moo-hyun government is pushing for an inter-Korean summit this year. The GNP has been criticizing the move in the belief that a successful summit could steal the limelight from its currently popular presidential candidates.
Inter-Korean relations are also picking up, with discussions being prepared on changing the Korean War armistice into a peace treaty in line with the ongoing nuclear negotiations
"From next month, members and lawmakers of the party will actively push for contacts with North Korea and participate in cooperation projects," Kim said.
"The party will head towards reconciliation with a progressive and enthusiastic attitude."
GNP lawmaker Chung Hyung-keun, who was once an intelligence official, said that the party does not oppose the peace treaty and that it also encourages normalization of ties between North Korea and the United States if it would help the communist regime reform and open up.
"The GNP will not be standing alone while circumstances are changing (on the Korean Peninsula)," Chung said in a radio interview with MBC.
Floor leader Kim Hyung-o also supported the party's change.
"The two Koreas as well as the United States and China must work to change the cease-fire line into a peace line for the sake of a permanent peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula, and the GNP will cooperate fully," Kim said during a parliamentary meeting.
The four countries are planning to create a peace forum, separate from the nuclear talks, for permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, which has been divided since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The GNP, however, continued to criticize the government's push for a summit, opposing the planned visit by Uri Party Chairman Chung Se-kyun to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex this Thursday.
"For the party's leader to visit Gaeseong at a time of an extraordinary session means he is willing to ignore the public calls to deal with pending bills," Kim Choong-whan said.
Chung's trip follows last week's visit by former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan to Pyongyang, where he met No. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam and reportedly discussed the possibility of holding a summit.
https://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2007/03/14/200703140009.asp
* Haha, I really wanna see it!!
BTW.. the N.K. propaganda usually is calling the GNP a gang of reactionaries, fascists..^^
Related articles:
☞ Opposition GNP Faces Backlash on North Korea Policy (K. Times, 3.13)
☞ GNP Debates About-Turn in N.Korea Policy (Chosun Ilbo, 3.15)
At least since last year the bourgeois - particularly east Asian - media speculates about the presenlty and future, mainly economically (but of course on that way also politically) influence by the PR China in the DPRK. The S.K. semi-official news agency Yonhap already published following (strange) stuff last December:
China may decide to engineer coup in N.K. next year
Participants in an unpublicized White House meeting, called by U.S. President George W. Bush himself, two months ago discussed the possibility that China may arrange a coup in Pyongyang to bring down the regime sometime late next year, the Oriental Economist reported in its December edition.
China was still oscillating between options, but participants generally agreed that Beijing's mood is changing toward the North's Kim Jong-il regime, "with Beijing gradually, somewhat grudgingly, concluding that some kind of 'regime change' may be needed," the monthly said.
There was also "explicit discussion in the meeting of the possibility that, sometime next year, after China's President Hu Jintao has further consolidated his power, that China may try to engineer a military coup in Pyongyang against Kim Jong-il," it said.
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley arranged the meeting with Michael Green, the former Asia director at the National Security Council, on Oct. 25 with Vice President Dick Cheney also attending, according to the monthly.
White House chief of staff Josh Bolton and chief political adviser Karl Rove, who has special interest in East Asia, were also at the one-hour meeting.
Green took with him Bonnie Glaser, China specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Nicholas Eberstadt, a North Korea expert at the American Enterprise Institute.
Former Assistant Secretary of State Jim Kelly was invited but declined, the monthly said.
President Bush wanted to hear the assessments of what China was likely to do about North Korea, particularly how far Beijing is willing to pressure its neighbor and close ally to give up its nuclear weapons and programs.
The monthly said the participants emphasized the importance of keeping China engaged on North Korea issues.
Beijing's three options, as described by the participants, are that it can stay close to North Korea and help strengthen it; turn aggressive and intensify pressure; or maintain the status quo and accept North Korea as a nuclear arms state.
The notion of a China-engineered coup was discussed as a possibility, one participant was quoted as telling the monthly, "but it was very academic and hypothetical and speculative, and hardly the basis for a new policy at this point."
China is one of the key players in the six-party denuclearization negotiations that also involve South and North Korea, the U.S., Japan and Russia. It hosts the multilateral forum and mediates talks between Pyongyang and Washington.
http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20061225/610000000020061225092456E6.html
Some of the recently published (and a little more serious) articles/reports about that issue:
☞ (Chinese) Firms venture into North Korea (Asia Times, 3.12))
☞ More and More North Koreans Fantasizing About China (DailyNK, 3.06)
☞ Chinese Merchants in North Korea .. (3.07)
☞ Investment Opportunities, Chinese Merchants.. (3.12)
BTW.. Kim Jong-il promised for this year a strengthening of DPRK's economy. But with its own "power" the DPRK isn't able to achieve this goal - not at all. So they must, at least economically, open NK's society. Especially for foreign trade, investments..
But if the DPRK is opening for this, much more of the Chinese capitalism (mainly as privat initiatives) will flood the DPRK (just see the example of the last 15 years in the east Siberian/Russian regions where the Chinese , mainly economically influence in extreme increasing..). And by this way it will also change the DPRK's society fundamentally!
Updated (see below: related articles/videos)
Surprise, surprise:
Yesterday some thousands demonstrators took the streets of Seoul to protest against the planned US-ROK FTA. And the S.K. gov't responded with.. POLICE TERROR!!
Even - for example - the Israeli media, such as Ynet/Yedioth Ahronoth
wrote about it:
South Korean riot police break up protest against US free trade agreement
Published: 03.10.07, 14:37 / Israel News
Riot police used a water cannon Saturday to break up a noisy but peaceful street protest in downtown Seoul against a proposed free trade agreement between South Korea and the United States.
Police armed with shields and truncheons fired several bursts from a water cannon into the crowd of about 2,000 protesters, mostly farmers, workers and students, after they ignored a warning to disperse as temperatures dropped to freezing in early evening.
Sorces of the pics: OhmyNews, VoP
Reports in Korean and English:
☞ Chamsesang (Korean, incl. videos)
☞ Voice of People (Korean, incl. videos)
☞ Tongil News (Korean)
☞ OhmyNews (Korean)
☞ Pressian (Korean, incl. videos)
☞ OhmyTV (Korean, video)
☞ Korea Herald (English)
☞ The Hankyoreh (English)
☞ No-FTA Newsletter (English)
PS:
In my opinion.. what was happen y'day, it might be just the pre-play what we (yeah, I know..) have to expect when the next gov't will be "ruling" - if we can't prevent this f.. sh..!! - S.K.
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