CINA

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Today's Hankyoreh reported that...

Hyundai Motor labor union called a halt to dialogue with the company’s management after the automaker gave notice that is going through with the hiring of in-house subcontracting workers as new regular employees during negotiations on the conversion of illegal dispatch workers to regular employee status. Observers are now expecting that a sit-in protest on a transmission tower(in Ulsan) by workers demanding a status change for all in-house subcontracting employees will continue indefinitely. The workers have been up on the tower since Oct. 17, more than sixty days...   (Here you can read the full article)

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Last Sunday(12.16) hundreds of migrant workers - joined by Korean workers and activists of several human/civil right/solidarity organisations - gathered in Suwon(an industrial town south of Seoul and home for thousands of migrant workers) to 'celebrate' today's International Migrants Day.

Here just some impressions(photographed by Yoon Gyeong-min):

 

Related report:
☞ 2012 세계이주민의 날 페스티벌, 수원역 앞 열려 (NewsCham, 12.17)

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Since the end of last week the occupants of the 'SKY Sit-in Struggle Tent Village' (nearby Daehanmun, the main entrance of Deoksu Palace in downtown Seoul) are demonstrating their special pre-'christmas' solidarity with the ongoing Pylon/tower/bridge Sit-in Struggles in several parts of S. Korea:
 

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1. Comrade Kim So-yeon, the nominee for "Labor Presidency"(*), has been attacked by riot cops during her yesterday's election campaign rally in downtown Seoul!

 
Today's Korea Times reported the following:

Kim So-yeon, one of four independent presidential candidates, was allegedly beaten by a police officer during a campaign rally Saturday.

Her aides also claim the officer spat in her face. Police (of course!!) deny the claims.

According to supporters of Kim, a former member of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union, officers assaulted her while she and some 300 supporters were attempting to march toward Cheong Wa Dae after a speech at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul.

She planned to hold another rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae.

Police blocked them from approaching the presidential office and the two sides clashed, with scuffles taking place for about two hours.

After the incident, tweets spread that a policeman spat in her face and punched her. Kim’s camp released a photo of her with bruises on the left side of her face...

Seoul National University law professor Cho Kuk said, “Candidate Kim was beaten by police. This is an unprecedented situation! A thorough investigation should be conducted to hold those in charge accountable.”...

Kim is one of two candidates from the labor sector. She pledged to eliminate the practice of recruiting temporary workers Kim said she joined the race because she wanted to show that workers can play a pivotal role in the political arena and they don’t need help from somebody else to have their voice heard in public policy.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/12/116_127040.html

Related articles:
☞ 경찰, 김소연 유세 조직적 방해...관권선거 논란 (NewsCham, 12.15)
☞ 경찰, 김소연 후보 폭행 논란... "불법선거 전락" (OMN, 12.16)


* Here you'll get some more detailed info about comrade Kim So-yeon!

*****
 

2. No surprise! As many already anticipated... 'presidential candidate' Lee Jeong-hui (aka Lee Jung-hee/United "Progressive" Party) quits race (^^)

Related article:
☞ UPP's Lee drops out of election (K. Herald, 12.16)

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During an exceptionally cold December, there are several protests being held by temporary workers on pylons throughout the country(*). The workers are attempting to draw attention the plight of irregular workers. Although irregular workers are a big issue for next week’s presidential election, no one knows when these protests will end. (source: Hankyoreh, 12.13)

* Places of current sit-in protests(f.l.t.r.): Pyeongtaek/Gwangwon Lumber(since 22 days), Asan(since 53 days), Dongducheon City Hall(since 25 days), Ulsan/Hyundai Motors(since 57 days), Pyeongtaek/Ssangyong Motors(since 23 days)...
 

Related contribution:
☞ Current (pylon/tower/bridge)sit-in struggle... (11.28)


 

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Kim So-yeon, the nominee for a "Labor Presidency"

 
Kim So-yeon(42 years old) is a long time labor activist in KCTU's Metal Workers' Union. Although she is running as an independent, she is loosely backed by the New Progressive Party, a leftist party that does not hold a seat in the National Assembly. Kim is best known for her efforts to lead the strike in Kiryoong Electronics, which illegally hired part-time workers to replace full-time works (and their benefits.) The strike intermittently lasted six years until the management finally gave into the union's demands. Kim held two hunger strikes in the process, one for 30 days and one for 94 days.

Kim's campaign promises include abolition of mass layoffs and nighttime shifts, nationalization of the financial system, the termination of the 'Jeju Naval Base' construction, justice for the victims of the so-called 'redevelopment' projects etc...(*)

But although comrade So-yeon is supported by several labor unions, civic/human rights orgainsations and resistance groups - she's (most likely) utterly chanceless...

A lone, independent voice

Independent presidential candidate Kim So-yeon speaks from behind a police cordon outside Samsung’s headquarters in Seoul’s Yeoksam neighborhood on Dec. 5. Kim is a former organizer of temporary workers and a symbol of irregular workers in Korea. On this day, she appeared with supporters and families of Samsung workers who contracted leukemia while working in semiconductor factories. In this photo Kim is addressing the crowd from a barricade after being forced back by police.  (Source: Hankyoreh, 12.8)

 
* For more about her campaign, please check out: http://nodongcamp.kr

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Tomorrow's "Joint Action": No Naval Base on Jeju Island! - an initiative by Kim So-yeon(*)
 

 
* Kim So-yeon(more about her possibly tomorrow!) is the nominee for "Labor Presidency"...