CINA

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2007 N-S (Korean) Summit
Day #1

Yesterday (10.01), just few hours before the summit, the S.K. semi-official news agency Yonhap wrote that the "N.K. leader may surprise the world again..".

Well, actually until now there was/is no real surprise. Except the fact that Kim Jong-il during his first meeting with Roh Moo-hyun was looking complete annoyed, angry, at least in a real bad mood (while Roh all the time was smiling like complete stoned..).

Kim Jong-il to the interpreter: "Who's that??"

The interpreter: "Well, your guest for the next two days,

Roh Moo-hyun from the south." Kim: "WTFH he's doing here?

Why he can't stay at his f.. home?" "Well, he wants to visit you

and talk about peace and unification and bullshit like that.."

"Eeh, f.. you! F.. them all! I wanna be left in peace!

Please - eeh.. that's 'n order!!"

Later Kim was trying a kind of handshake with Roh, but because of some co-ordination

difficulties (likely to much cognac and/or soju the night before..) it took a while..

..until he solved that problem successfully!

But finally the rest of the 12-minute meeting passed without any major incidents!!

☞ Leaders of Two Koreas Meet in Pyongyang (Washington Post)

☞ A crack opens in the Korean wall (Asia Times/HK)

☞ Roh begins Pyongyang visit with brief meeting with N.K. leader (Yonhap)

☞ Foreign cars and wandering hands at summit (Reuters)

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Migrant Worker Film Festival highlights both adversity and change (Hankyoreh, 8.31)
 

Festival organizers hope to share migrant experiences with viewers and build solidarity among migrant communities

Challenging popular ideas and images of migrant workers, the Migrant Worker Film Festival enters its second year with the theme “Super Migrants.” This year’s festival aims to stand as a testament to the struggles faced by migrant workers the world over, while also offering a glimpse at their achievements.

Working as a migrant is synonymous with putting one’s life on the line in jobs known to be difficult, dangerous and dirty, the notorious three Ds in the industries that commonly employ migrants. In addition to examining these inherent risks, this year's festival also offers viewers the chance to explore the rich and varied cultures of migrants.

The festival will run from August 31-September 2 in Seoul at Seoul Art Cinema, and aims to give cineastes, activists and the general public an opportunity to feast on 46 films representing 15 different countries.

Though other festivals have covered migrant workers' issues in the past, the festival focuses exclusively on a broad range of special topics. Through documentaries and films of other genres made by and about migrants, the festival looks at labor, human rights, children, women, culture, the Asian Activist Network and films made by migrant workers.

Festival highlights

The opening film, “A Day Without a Mexican,” a serious comedy that takes satirical look at immigration in the United States by imagining a day when the entire state of California is suddenly depleted of its Latin American population. By taking a lighthearted approach, the film dramatically illustrates the crucial role that Latinos, whether migrant worker or citizen, play in California, and by extension, American society.

Another film, “Ghosts,” depicts the story of a Chinese woman whose trip to England to earn money to help her family leads her to become an indentured servant and we see her taking on increasingly dangerous work in order to survive.

Some of the films on the program were featured in last spring’s Women’s Film Festival in Seoul, so those who missed them there can catch them here. One of these, “Ah-Tsao Go!,” follows the joys and sorrows in life of a Vietnamese woman married to a Taiwanese man. It is part of the Migrant Women program, which also features a number of documentaries on women living as brides in foreign countries and others working in modern forms of slavery.

New this year is a section on the Asian Activist Network, featuring two documentaries that depict the political situation in countries from which many migrant workers in Korea have come. One shows the struggle of people in the Kansat region of Bangladesh, after a multinational company turned off the power in 2005, leading to widespread protests that were ignored by the government and resulted in the deaths of 17 people. Another film brings to light the human rights violations committed by the Macapagal-Arroyo regime in the Philippines.

Another new section, Inside Migrant Culture, presents four films from Bangladesh, India and Canada. “The Peace Tree” tells the story of two children, one Muslim and the other Christian, who want to celebrate the holidays of Christmas and Eid with one another, over the objections of their parents. “America, America!” is a four-minute music video that takes a swipe at American involvement in the Middle East and questions the American conception of “freedom.”

There are eight films in the section on Migrant Children. “Nasi” is a short film about a Chinese adoptee who takes her own kind of revenge on her situation and "Baroque 'n Roll" shows what children must overcome in dealing with racism.

Migrant workers in Korea

In Korea, migrant workers have a 20-year history. In spite of this, the almost one million people from over 100 different countries, including China, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Mongolia, working in the country or living as foreign brides, continue to face discrimination and the same difficult conditions as they did when they first arrived.

Meanwhile, there are few programs directly supporting migrants and the government has continued to force undocumented workers out of the country as a way to deal with the growing number of migrant workers, while ignoring their human rights. But migrants have begun to make change on their own and have seen their efforts materialize in the creation of a union and a growing number of community organizations dedicated to promoting the rights of migrant workers.

The festival’s director, Mahbub Alam, came to Korea over eight years ago and worked 12-15 hour days in furniture and plastics factories before becoming involved with the Migrant Workers Trade Union in 2002. Three years later, working with three fellow migrant workers and one Korean national, he founded Migrant Workers Television, which regularly produces news and information by and for the migrant population, in addition to maintaining a website and sponsoring this year's festival, as a way to combat what he saw as “misrepresentations of migrant workers in the media, with portrayals of migrant workers as helpless or funny.”

Alam has lost friends and colleagues as a result of government crackdowns involving midnight raids and struggles over legality and pay. Alam’s film, “The Deported,” examines the after-effects of these policies. He took his camera to his native Bangladesh to follow the lives of migrant activists who were deported after one such crackdown and their attempts to continue their activism in their homelands.

Media activism in multicultural Korea

In addition to representing these issues, the festival also hopes to visualize the concerns of migrants and help build community. Linda Kwon, who regularly volunteers with MWTV, says that the festival is “a way for migrant workers to see their stories on screen and promote international solidarity among migrant workers.”

Cross-cultural collaborations will also be a feature of this year’s festival with films by Koreans and Burmese filmmakers. Educational outreach to migrant communities generated films in the sections devoted to women and films made by migrant workers.

“Korea is rapidly becoming a multicultural society and this festival reflects that along with the many issues that kind of change brings,” said Kwon.

This year’s festival, as with last year’s two-day event, starts in Seoul and moves on to 10 cities around the country where there are large concentrations of migrant workers. Festival organizers hope the films will resonate with people in these areas and build community through dialogue.

As Alam says, “Many Koreans don’t want to think about migrant workers, so we have to share our experiences with them.” But, he says, there is also a lot of change these days as is evidenced by the number of activists and volunteers who have put time and energy into supporting the cause.

All screenings are free and all of the films will have subtitles in both Korean and English. In addition to the films, there will also be a special party on Saturday night and a community discussion with migrant workers on Sunday. For more information on the festival and a schedule of events, go to the Migrant Worker Film Festival website at http://mwff.or.kr/.

The films in this year’s festival speak to the diversity, vibrancy and persistence of the migrant community, their ability to overcome adversity and activate for change. Watching these Super Migrants shine may just send you home with a smile, and a little extra inspiration, before the last days of summer fade away.

 
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_entertainment/232922.html

Related article:

☞ Chronicles of migrant life reveal hardships (JoongAng Ilbo, 8.30)

☞ 제2회 이주노동자 영화제 오늘 개막 (이주노동자방송국, 8.31)

☞ 제2회 이주노동자영화제.. (CINE21, 8.29)

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Well, tomorrow, 8.31, the 2nd "Migrant Worker Film Festival" is starting in Seoul..

For more informations (program, "special events" etc.) please check out:

☞ 이주노동자 영화제/2nd MWFF
 

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Well, one day after the announcement of the coming Inter-Korean Summit (8.28~30) in Pyeongyang the S.K. media published the first analyses/editorials/opinions (Actually, as you possibly assume, I've my own opinion about that stuff. But I've to sort my thoughts.. Perhaps after the coming weekend you can read it here..). Following just a small collection of today's contributions in S. K.'s (from the reactionary to the so-called "progressive") newspapers:

☞ Why Kim Jong-il is Meeting a Lame-Duck President (Chosun..)

☞ Timing of Inter-Korean Summit Raises Eyebrows (..Ilbo)

☞ Summit of folly (JoongAng Ilbo)

☞ ..North-South Summit Talks - What is Kim Jong Il's Strategy? (DailyNK)

☞ Will summit resurrect embattled liberals? (K. Herald)

☞ What can be expected of the upcoming North-South summit? (Hankyoreh)

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Today in the morning (CET) the Korean news surprised me a little bit:

Yonhap:
Two Koreas agree to hold summit in Pyongyang Aug. 28-30..

President Roh Moo-hyun will visit Pyongyang Aug. 28-30 to hold a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Roh's office Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement Wednesday.

   "The two Koreas have agreed to hold a summit in Pyongyang Aug. 28-30. For the summit, Roh will remain in the North Korean capital for three days," said the statement.

   "The second inter-Korean summit is expected to contribute to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. The talks will also provide momentum to settle the North Korean nuclear problem," it said.

   The statement noted that Kim Man-bok, chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), visited North Korea twice earlier this month to fine-tune details of the summit and that the agreement was finalized on Aug. 5.

   The South Korean government will soon establish panels to prepare the agenda of the Roh-Kim talks, he added.

   The Koreas held their first-ever summit in June 2000 between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim, leading to rapprochement and reconciliation. But North and South Korea are still technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

   In this regard, the statement, read by Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung, the NIS chief and Baek Jong-chun, chief presidential secretary for foreign and security policy in a joint news conference, said the two Koreas' leaders will hold serious discussions on establishing a permanent peace regime on the peninsula.

 
  "The two leaders' discussions on a Korean Peninsula peace treaty will help widen bilateral military trust and further upgrade mutual economic cooperation and exchanges," said the statement.

   Regarding inter-Korean contacts leading to the summit agreement, it revealed that the North sent an invitation on July 29 to the South, asking NIS chief Kim to secretly visit Pyongyang on Aug. 2-3. "Since then, the NIS chief again traveled to the North on Aug. 4-5 and signed the summit agreement at the end of his second visit. In the first contact, the North said its leader Kim has long wished to meet with Roh and the most opportune timing has finally come."
In a separate question-and-answer session with the media, Unification Minister Lee said the agenda of the upcoming summit will be determined through further two-way contacts.

   "Establishment of a Korean Peninsula peace regime would be discussed, but it is too early to comment on details of the issue," said the minister.

KCNA:
North-South Agreement on Visit of President Roh Moo Hyun to Pyongyang Released

The following north-south agreement on the visit of President Roh Moo Hyun to Pyongyang was released: 
   
President Roh Moo Hyun will visit Pyongyang from August 28 to 30 under an agreement between Kim Jong Il, chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Roh Moo Hyun, president of the Republic of Korea (대한민국 로무현대통령/*).
The meeting between the top leaders of the north and the south will be of weighty significance in opening a new phase of peace on the Korean Peninsula, co-prosperity of the nation and national reunification by expanding and developing the inter-Korean relations onto a higher stage in accordance with the historic June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and in the spirit of "By our nation itself".
Both sides agreed to hold a contact for making arrangements for the summit meeting in Kaesong as early as possible..

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2007/200708/news08/08.htm#1

Related articles:

☞ Two Koreas to Hold Summit (AP)

☞ The Koreas talk of talking again (A. Times)

☞ Will Leaders Institutionalize Korean Peace? (Korea..)

☞ Kim Jong-il Feels Insecure in South (..Times)

☞ Summit could spur peace talks (K. Herald)

☞ Main opposition party opposes inter-Korean summit talks (Yonhap)

* But on today's KCNA site, just three news later, the S. Korean gov't is labeled as it's called usually in the DPRK: '..the present "government"..' ^^

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About two weeks ago the (reactionary) S.K. newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported that the conservative/reactionary Grand National Party(Hanara-dang) proposed in its "Vison for Peace on the Korean Peninsula" for example the "complete permitting of North Korean newspapers and broadcasts in South Korea". (*)

But just yesterday the same newspaper had to report following insane stuff:

Man Held for Posting Slews of N.Korean Propaganda

 
Police have arrested a man on charges of violating the National Security Law by posting some 3,000 pro-North Korean documents on the websites of 20 civic organizations. The man identified as Kim downloaded documents from pro-North Korean websites to which South Korea blocks access and uploaded them on the websites. He was arrested on July 10. Police say Kim himself posted 300 of the 3,000 documents and are reviewing some 2,000 seized CDs. But after Kim was arrested, more pro-North Korean documents were posted on the websites of some civic organizations with his ID, police said. Police are investigating whether Kim is part of a larger organization...

 
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200707/200707160016.html

* ☞ GNP Softens N.Korea Policy

국가보안법 박살내자!

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If you have tomorrow (7.12) nothing better to do - you might join the following event (7:30 pm, Gwanghwamun/Dong-A B/D):

Today's PIC(Hamas' Information Center): "The IOF troops killed 180 Palestinians in six months". Of course it's terrible! But at the same time Palestinians killed at least 600 Palestinians during the fights for "power", money, influence, drugs, weapons, hostages, etc.. (eeh~ I'm sorry!! But for what I know.. that's just the f.. reality!!)

*****

^^ "Planning to join the Palestinian struggle? Be sure to get your colors right, lest you get caught representin’ in the wrong ‘hood." (Marmot's Hole). Just CHECK IT OUT!!

*****

Hitler's notoriously book "Mein Kampf",

published by the PA(i.e. the Pal. "gov't"), 2003.

*****

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Last week the S.K. (mainly bourgeois) media reported about GNP's plan to change complete their, i.e. soon S.K.'s (because it's likeley - SADLY ENOUGH!! -  that they will place the next president/government), policy on the DPRK (N.K.).
This might be in fact - in my opinion - (one of) the most significant developments since S.K. became a (kind of) democracy.

Well, as an introduction (my own stuff - opinion, comment.. - will follow as soon as possible!!) here just some articles in the S.K. media about the issue:

Hard-line on North ends as GNP sets new policy  (JoongAng Ilbo, 7.05)

 
The days when the Grand National Party took a tough line on North Korea appear to be ending with the announcement yesterday of sweeping changes to its traditional anti-communist policy.

The conservative party declared its support for an inter-Korean summit to contribute to a nuclear free Korean Peninsula and a number of measures to continue the policy of engagement pushed by liberal governments.
Coming in an election year, the conciliatory policy places the party’s approach more in line with ongoing negotiations with the North, rather than the past hostility associated with the GNP.

“Until now, the Grand Nationals have supported a containment policy toward the North, but the new policy is more flexible with more of an emphasis on peace,” said Jeung Young-tae, a researcher with the state-funded Korea Institute for National Unification. “In terms of exchange and cooperation programs, the Grand Nationals’ new policy is comparable to the engagement policy of the current administration.”

The GNP also signalled its support for continuing aid programs and movement toward forging a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War.
Since March, a task force led by Representative Chung Hyung-gun has worked on the new North Korea policy. Chung unveiled the policy, titled, “A Vison for Peace on the Korean Peninsula,” yesterday.

No matter who becomes the party’s presidential candidate, the new policy will be reflected in the candidate’s election platform because the shift was endorsed by the party. Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye both indicated their support for the change yesterday.

 
“Until now, the Grand Nationals have put too much emphasis on the principle of security first, exchanges later. By doing so, we failed to react to the reality of the post-Cold War era in Northeast Asia,” Chung said yesterday. “This new flexible and active policy is aimed at building a community of Koreans to achieve peaceful unification of the peninsula.”

The new policy favors accepting a four-way declaration by the two Koreas, the United States and China to announce an end to the Korean War as a way to establish military trust and resolve hostilities on the peninsula. When tensions between North and South are removed, the party will push for signing a peace treaty..

 
Signing a peace treaty is a delicate issue because it means the South would have to recognize the North as an independent state in order to do so.
“We must see relations between the two Koreas not as relations between two nations, but as a special relationship during the course of unification,” Chung said. “We should recognize the North’s political existence.”

 
The policy includes a plan to aid North Korea’s economy with support missions and large-scale training programs once Pyongyang gives up its nuclear arms program. The party would also guarantee 150,000 tons of rice aid for the North annually under the plan.

 
The policy set forth seven goals including denuclearization, a more open society in the North, support for the economy and improvements in human rights.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2877664

☞ GNP Softens N.Korea Policy (Chosun Ilbo, 7.05)

☞ The GNP's Leftwing Makeover (..7.06)

☞ GNP Tries to Appease NK Ahead of Election (K. Times, 7.04)

☞ GNP’s New North Korea Policy (..7.06)

☞ GNP’s new North Korea policy under fire from the inside (Hankyoreh, 7.06)

☞ The Assignment of the GNP's New Policy toward North Korea (DailyNK, 7.06)

☞ S. Korea preparing for inter-Korean summit this year.. (Yonhap, 7.09)

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All the time the reactionary S.K. media, such as Chosun Ilbo, KBS.. etc, are denouncing the "progressive" forces to be the "fifth column" in behalf of the DPRK leadership/Workers Party of (North) Korea (aka Chosun Nodong-dang) by, for example, implementation of the N.K. "communist culture" in the S.K. society.

But the complete opposite is/may be the reality: It seems that the S.K. capitalist conglomerates (chaebol) are the vanguard to promote the unification (between N.K. and S.K.) under the "wise leadership" of Kim Jong-il!

One example is Samsung chaebol..
Samsung was/is creating a simplified copy of DPRK's dictatorship in its own "empire".. Including N.K. "cultural" traditions, such as the so-called mass games.

Samsung's "Arirang" (poor performance^^)

The original: Kim Jong-il's..

.."Arirang"

For more, please read:

☞ ..Samsung culture (Hankyoreh, 6.21)

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Twenty years after the beginning of the "final" (mass) struggle for democracy - until now just the bourgeois "democracy" was/is achieved, i.e. still "the almighty of the capital" (K. Marx) is ruling  - in S. Korea..
The "left"-liberal daily newspaper Hankyoreh (6.08) is analysing the previous results:

A look at South Korean society, 20 years

after democracy

The massive pro-democracy movements which took place across South Korea in June 1987 led activists to step up their struggle for greater human and labor rights. Declarations and statements issued, especially during the intense period of demonstrations between July and December following June's successful fight for constitutional revision to allow for free elections, contained the demands of students, laborers, farmers, and other citizens who had been suffering under Korea's decades-long military dictatorships.

Twenty years after resistance and struggles, how many of these dreams for a better society have been achieved? Indices for sectors including politics, the economy, and social issues give a glimpse into what Korea's 1987 pro-democracy movement and laborers' struggle accomplished, and what remains unfulfilled.

Economy

During the 20 years since democracy, South Korea's economy has seen an astronomical rise, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per annum jumping from US$140 billion to $887.4 billion, a sixfold increase. Individual income has increased fivefold over the same period. However, inequality in income distribution - specifically, the household income of an urban worker - has seen a series of fluctuations. This is measured using the Gini coefficient, a statistical measure of how 'equal' or 'unequal' a society's income distribution; the closer the coefficient is to 0.0, the more equal a country's income distribution; conversely, a score approaching 1.0 means near total inequality, with income concentrated in the top socioeconomic echelon of society. In 1987, South Korea's Gini coefficient was 0.31, which dropped to 0.28 by 1997, a sign that income had become more evenly distributed. This shows growth and distribution were achieved at the same time because of high economic growth and actual wage growth. However, 1997 was also the year that the Asian financial crisis dealt South Korea a crushing blow, and by 2006, the Gini coefficient had risen again to 0.31, back where it was in 1987. During the period between 1997 and 2006, Korea's economic size grew to around $800 billion from $500 billion, while distribution dropped.

Social welfare

The nation's social welfare spending has grown 18.3 percent annually for the past 13 years, and the percentage of such spending out of GDP has increased about twofold. Nevertheless, Korea's social welfare spending as a GDP percentage is about half that of the U.S. and Japan, and about a third of the European average. The percentage of those receiving public pension among persons aged 65 or over has increased by a factor of 12 over the last 16 years to 13.9 percent in 2004. However, the corresponding figure is 60-70 percent on average in advanced European countries. Despite rapid growth in welfare spending since 1987, all types of indices show that Korea's welfare standard has a long way to go.

Education

Most would contend that the educational sector has changed for the worse over the past two decades. The burden of private tutoring expenses for parents is growing daily, as students as young as elementary school age pack into after school cram academies until late at night in order to prepare for fierce competition with their peers for spots at top universities. This ever-growing competition means students' minimum human rights are being ignored. Neoliberal educational policies centering on competition, which have been pushed ahead with under the pretense of reform, have worsened the situation. One case in point is former president Kim Young-sam administration's May 31, 1995 reform plan, which was evaluated as an attempt to introduce more fierce competition to the national education system under the pretext of strengthening students' global competitiveness. The ideology of efficiency and competition gained greater momentum during the Kim Dae-jung and incumbent Roh Moo-hyun administrations, and is now affecting students even at the kindergarten and elementary school levels. In addition, as so called "special-purpose" magnet high schools have increased in number, with parents scrambling to get their children into what is rumored to be a sure ticket to a top university, the overall quality of education has declined, and university admissions thus depend more and more on parents' socioeconomic status. The 'polarization of education' is indeed intensifying.

However, positive changes have occurred, as well. Improvements have been made to educational conditions, such as the number of students per classroom. This figure used to be 60-70 students per room on average in the early 1980s, but had dropped to about 30 per classroom on average as of last year.

Human rights

The number of prisoners of conscience in South Korea has been on the decline, a result not of reform of related laws and regulations, but by people's broadened awareness of the issue of human rights. The social atmosphere in South Korea is now such that judicial or police authorities cannot detain people at will, as they did in the past. Yet problems regarding draconian laws such as the National Security Law have not been fundamentally solved, so the nation still imposes punishment in cases where their legal action could be seen as a violation of basic human rights, such as freedom of speech or conscience, all of which are guaranteed by the Constitution. The application of the notorious National Security Law in several recent cases of policing content on the Internet is tantamount to punishing free thinking in 2007 via a law dating from 1948.

Labor

Union membership reached an apex in 1989 with 19.8 percent of all workers participating in some sort of labor organization, but has shown a downward trend since, recording around a 12-percent rate between 1997 to 2001 and 10.3 percent in 2005, the last figure a 48-percent drop from 1989's figures. As far as sheer population figures, the number of unionists decreased from 1.93 million in 1989 to 1.5 million in 2005, a 22.3-percent drop. The percentage of earned (labor) income out of total national income fell from 63.1 percent in 1996 to 58.2 percent in 2002 and then went back up to 61.4 percent in 2006, still below the figures recorded before the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. The wage disparity of the lower 10 percent of earners versus upper 10 percent rose to a factor of 5.4 in 2006 from 4.8 in 2001, meaning that wages for the top decile of earners were nearly five-and-a-half times greater than those of the lowest decile of earners, a factor higher than that seen in the United States, whose wage disparity is the most serious among Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members. South Korea also held a dubious first place in terms of abuse and discrimination against part-time and short-term contract workers among OECD members. While the unemployment rate is comparably low and real wages have increased, the quality of employment and structure of income redistribution leave a great deal to be desired.

Journalism

The number of newspapers and periodicals has increased by 6.5 times and 3.5 times, respectively, since 1987, a sign that freedom of speech has improved overall. However, while government influence on the media has diminished, advertisers and media owners have stepped in in its place. This is due to intensified competition stemming from the increasing number of media companies and the ever-strengthening influence of advertisers, such as business conglomerates, or jaebeol. The Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s aggravated such a tendency. In addition, worsening management at newspapers and other media companies has caused restructuring and fall of wages there. Journalists are increasingly giving in to pressure from media company owners as well as self-censorship, rather than considering the readers they are meant to reach.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/214664.html

More about the issue I'll write likely later..