CINA

..as it was suggested(6.14) in AntiWar.com (well, I think that's a f.. good idea!!!):

Ungrateful Allies 
  

Recently, hundreds of thousands of South Koreans filled the streets of Seoul near the U.S. Embassy to protest the South Korean government's decision to resume imports of American beef. The imports had been halted since the much overblown scare of "mad cow" disease of 2003. The accusation that the American beef is so tainted is a protectionist and nationalist canard, because it has long been certified as safe. In reality, many South Koreans joined the protests because they felt the South Korean government of Lee Myung-bak has been too deferential to the United States.

These protests are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, South Korea has not fully opened its auto market to U.S. exports, while its own car sales to the United States have soared.

Perhaps South Koreans have forgotten that between 1950 and 1953, the United States lost 37,000 troops to help them beat back a North Korean invasion. Since then, U.S. forces in South Korea and nuclear weapons have deterred another attack by kooky North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. Since the Korean War, under the protection of the U.S. shield, South Korea has grown from a poor, backward country into one of the world's economic powerhouses – with a GDP of about 30 times that of its destitute North Korean enemy.ies.

Despite plundering their colonies at gunpoint (for example, the Spanish Eempire looted the gold from Latin America) and creating sheltered markets for their goods overseas (for example, British mercantilism), even the formal empires of old were not cost-effective, according to classical economists. The informal U.S. Empire that defends other countries abroad using alliances, military bases, the permanent stationing of U.S. troops on foreign soil,, and profligate military interventions is even more cost-ineffective. U.S. forces cannot plunder, and rich allies, such as South Korea, excessively restrict their markets to U.S. goods and services.

South Korea is not the only wealthy U.S. ally to reap the rewards of a U.S. security guarantee, while not fully opening its market to the United States. Japan and most of the European NATO allies also do the same. The foolish U.S. policy of continuing to subsidize the defense of these now rich countries – all economic competitors of the United States – allows them to reduce the drag that added defense expenditures would impose on their economies. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy has to bear the costs of defending the world.

Also, the U.S. has informal alliances with nations such as Taiwan and Israel and hands out significant direct and indirect defense subsidies to them.

Now that the worldwide Soviet threat has long passed, no excuse exists to provide welfare for rich allies merely to foster their security dependency on the U.S. Empire. All U.S. allies need to should all spend more on their own security; but they have no incentive to do so if the United States is willing to subsidize a shield against their mostly poorer enemies.

The United States should take the radical step of abrogating these outdated formal and informal alliances and security guarantees and gradually withdraw all of its forces from South Korea, Japan, and Europe. The phased withdrawal will give such nations time to build up their own defenses. If this route is taken, the United States, South Korea, and the other allies will be more secure, and the economic playing field will be made more level.
 

http://www.antiwar.com/eland/?articleid=12990

Related articles:

☞ A potent, troubling nationalism (IHT)

☞ Candlelight Vigil Tests S. Korea-US Alliance (Korea..) 

☞ 2002 Tank Incident and Aftermath (..Times)

Yeah, Why Not??!!

During the last weekend - once again - tens of thousands of people took the streets in downtown Seoul to protest (*).. And the protests are "Not just (about the) beef: Other policies take center stage during demonstrations", as Korea Herald wrote today (**).

Meanwhile thousands of truck drivers are in strike since the end of last week. And from today about 25,000 construction workers (organized in the KFCITU) are also on strike (***).

 
Today the S.K. semi-official news agency Yonhap had to "detect" that the "strike is starting to hurt S. Korean industry, trade.." (Surprise, surprise! But that's usually the ultimative goal of any struggle/strike against the exploiting class and/or their state/gov't!!!)

Last Friday Asia Times(HK) published following nice article about the current movement against the s.k. gov't:

Party time at South Korea's protest 2.0

This is strange. Even as anti-government demonstrations in South Korea go, this is an odd, odd scene. Even a foreigner thinks so. "I have never seen anything like this before," said Jeff Lazar, an American activist observing the ongoing protests here over the import of beef from the United States. "It's like a festival. They are even using a laser projector to write their protest words in the air...

☞ 610 디지털 낙서(레이저 태그)

 
..It's effective because it's fun. It's also a sure attention-grabber," he adds.

South Korea's infamously combative street protests have taken an unexpected, and sometimes amusing, turn. It has become much more peaceful, but, mind you, that's a relative term compared with previous practices. For example, during the 40-day-long candlelight demonstration that started on May 2 - when 15,000 students unexpectedly took to the streets - and up to this Tuesday which commemorated the June 10 Democracy Movement in 1987 that had bid farewell to the decades of military rule, only one person has lost his life.

And the deceased was not killed because of a bloody clash with the riot police, but because he set himself on fire.

Like any good festival, some people have come out wearing interesting costumes. Lee Dong-keun, a 19-year-old freshman at Korea University, and a classmate wear identical full-body tiger outfits. "I got a lot of pictures taken by media people," said Lee with pride.

And the streets themselves are much cleaner because of people like Cho Eun-mi, who volunteers to pick up trash, including empty soda cans, water bottles and pieces of torn slogan-bearing placards. "I know some people frown on the protesters. They think streets get dirty after protests. So I thought if I made the street less dirty by picking up trash, then those people might also get less upset," Cho said.

The most commonly seen slogans are variations on "No to US beef!" But people seem equally, if not more, upset about President Lee Myung-bak. "The President Lee said he would serve people. I think he's not doing it. So, I am protesting," said tiger-suited Lee.

Mahbub Alam from Bangladesh said of the street protests: "I get the feeling that the issue is not just about the beef. The American beef is rather a symbol for people to snub President Lee, who they feel is snubbing them."

Besides the lack of violence, what is surprising - even to South Koreans - is that there is no organizer for the already weeks-long demonstration. People took to the streets and formed ad hoc protest groups, usually around 6pm or 7pm each day. This has been bewildering to South Korean civil society, labor unions and opposition politicians - the usual players in such public protests. Tuesday's rally was the first officially organized protest and had the biggest turnout - police estimate 105,000 demonstrators, while the organizers said the number was closer to 500,000.

Still, one might think it was some kind of mass picnic, until you spot the riot police standing stiff, waiting for a crackdown order. Some people are holding impromptu concerts complete with guitars and violins, singing and dancing. In some cases, entire families have arrived to literally "camp out" in the middle of traffic. Of course they brought tents with them.

Other "protesters" have brought hot coffee to serve anyone who needs it. And high school students have given out roses to riot police, a move that definitely brings down the tension level. Some are distributing water bottles to the aggressive "frontliners" who usually shout more and work up a justified thirst. There are even volunteer medics walking around, shouting "Does anybody need help?"

Young couples use the protest for a romantic outing. They march with hands held tight, and the other hand holding a candle. Local TV footage has shown a man celebrating his girlfriend's birthday with a protest-candle cake. Other "demonstrators" have brought an outdoor movie projector and are showing the US documentary Sicko.

With the party atmosphere in full swing, the street vendors are enjoying a heyday of extra money and unusual business hours. It's 2am, and here they are selling kimbab (Korean sushi) or bondaegi (roasted silkworm larvae) right in the middle of roads that have been declared "no-traffic zones" by protesters who're occupying them.

This is South Korea's street protests 2.0. Or, perhaps, South Korea's "postmodern" demonstrations. With some Koreans mistrustful of mainstream media reports on the demonstration, they've taken matters into their own hands by broadcasting and reporting themselves. Using high-speed wireless Internet, some "embedded" citizens are using their own laptops and camcorders to broadcast real-time events. There are "citizen reporters" conducting interviews and taking pictures and posting them on their personal blogs and Internet forums. In fact, these news hounds have been so effective that some established newspapers have begun quoting them.

With no leaders leading, the protest might be considered "ineffective". People are protesting individually, shouting different slogans, marching in different directions; different people with different agendas. Some shout "2MB", the lowest speed unit of computer processing and also the initials of President Lee, sarcastically pointing out how slow Lee is in understanding the people's will.

Lee, who won the presidency in December with a record 5-million vote margin over runner-up Chung Dong-young, saw his popularity plunge below 20% by the time he marked his 100th day in office last week - another record in South Korea's recent decades. In fact, Lee has recently become so controversial a figure that the Korean edition of Wikipedia, the online participatory encyclopedia, decided to freeze any further revision on "Lee Myung-bak" for the next four months, fearing malicious attempts to distort the "facts" on him that have yet to be settled.

In this unusual protest, there are some unusual chants as well. "Turn away from your evil sin and turn to God," shouts a 40ish woman waving a Bible. "Take President Lee to God. I pray that God takes Lee out of the planet quickly," a man shouts back. Not far away, Roh Eun-jung, 28, a web designer chants: "Non-violence! Keep non-violence!"

Meanwhile, those who have earned an appetite after hours of street protesting yell, "We want food!" This mantra received echoes and giggles from sympathetic comrades throughout the crowd.

For the police, this unorganized rabble - ranging from a uniformed high-school student to a 57-year-old housewife, who said she came out "to change the world" - is easier to manage than a well-organized and militant group of protesters led by a strident leader. This self-appointed mob, however, does tend to stick around longer. And why not? It's 4am now in Seoul's main Gwanghwamun area and there are still quite a number of candle-holders milling about.

A police officer, asked when all this was likely to end, said: "I have no idea because this is an organization where there is no organizer." The conversation was then interrupted by a man holding out a cup of silkworm larvae to the officer. "Please, eat and keep up the good work!" the man says. A lady next him agreed: "We love you, police officer!" Surely, even love is possible in this wondrous war zone.

But things aren't so lovely all the time. As the protests have stretched into weeks, the familiar protest tools such as steel pipes and rocks have also surfaced, spelling an omen for possible violence and bloodshed.

For example, Friday will mark the sixth anniversary of the death of two Korean middle school girls who were run over by a US armored vehicle - a very emotional issue for many South Koreans. What is also worrisome is that the month of June in South Korea is traditionally a season for annual labor protests.

Already some labor groups have designated June 16 as a walk-out day. Then comes June 25, the Korean War Memorial Day. It's likely that the rightist groups will take to the streets at that time to protest against the leftist groups, who they believe are fooled by Pyongyang and sympathetic towards North Korea.

There will be many more pickets, chants, roses, candles, silkworm larvae and DVDs - it won't be a quiet month.

Some people call the recent lack of violence in protests as "democratic progress". They also see it as a social experiment in South Korea's deepening democratic experience. Hardline "old school" protesters, however, view it as "a picnic that doesn't change the nation". They argue that a street demonstration should be more forceful, with a clear set of actions designed to get concessions from the government. They believe that after the decades of military rule ended, a noisy protest is still the best way to make one's voice heard.

Amid this raucous imbroglio, it was a foreigner who saw the silver lining. "I think it will eventually help the country's democratic progress. People will find a point of convergence where they can begin a constructive dialogue," said Mahbub Alam from Bangladesh. "They just need some time to sort things out."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/JF13Dg01.html

* ☞ [6.14] Photo Impressions

** Not just beef: Other policies take center stage during demonstrations 

 
A series of unpopular government projects have started to take center stage in what initially began as demonstrations against U.S. beef imports, with signs of schisms showing up among protesters over increasingly diversified issues.

Aside from pervasive fears of mad cow disease, a coalition of about 1,700 civic groups, called "the people's council for countermeasures against mad cow disease," have taken contentious government plans as primary topics for their candlelight vigils, in which tens of thousands of people have joined each day following the April 18 import deal.

The coalition said it would continue to hold candlelight vigils throughout the week, protesting the plan to construct a cross-country canal today and privatization of the medical insurance on Thursday.

Yesterday, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Korea Broadcasting System in Yeouido in southwestern Seoul, in opposition to the privatization of state-owned television stations.

With the attention deviating to these issues and away from that of securing public health from the risks of the brain-wasting illness, signs of divisions have emerged among protesters.

"The coalition must maintain its united front against U.S. beef imports. It is ill-advised for us to be divided with many haphazardly presenting their assertions here and there," said an anonymous member of the coalition on its website.

However, Park Won-suk, senior member of the coalition, told The Korea Herald that the diversification of issues transpired naturally during the protests, and that the beef issue served as a last straw that unleashed pent-up public frustration against government policies.

"From the beginning of the Lee administration, people have had grievances and criticism about an array of its policies, including public English education," Park said. "To top it off, the public anger regarding the government's undemocratic attitude in carrying out its state affairs has prompted a series of protests."

As the coalition has started to up its opposition to the policies, it is now considering changing its name.

"We are looking for a different name that could best represent us as the coalition consists of more than 1,700 groups," said Park.

Depending on the government's response Friday to their demand to scrap or renegotiate the import deal, it plans to stage another massive rally on Saturday, the coalition said. If the response goes against their demand, they are threatening to stage a full-scale movement to oust the administration...

*** ☞ More work stoppages will rattle economy (JoongAng Ilbo)

李정부 박살내자!

자본주의 박살내자!

Conference Statement

The migrant workers movement in South Korea was created through the efforts of the Equality Trade Union Migrants Branch, the Myeongdong Cathedral Sit-in Protest and the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants Trade Union. While working to build this movement many migrant worker activists were forced to return to their home countries from 2002 to till now due to the South Korean government's targeted crackdown against movement leaders.

We, former ETUMB and MTU Ex-officers and current MTU officers, have gathered in Kathmandu Nepal from June 12-14, to demonstrate that targeted crackdown cannot stop us from fighting for the rights of migrant workers in South Korea and around the world. We have done this organizing an International Conference on Networking between the workers of countries of Origin and Migrant Workers in South Korea. Over the past two and a half days we have discussed different aspects to protect the migrant workers rights in Nepal, Bangladesh and other origin countries with following recommendations.

• We agree to establish the International Migrant Workers Solidarity Network (IMWSN) for the purpose of regular systematic communication and joint action between Nepal, Bangladesh and South Korea with the prospect of expanding to include other countries in the future.

   

• We feel urgency to provide education and training for workers planning to migrate to South Korea through the Employment Permit System

   

• We organize international events such as International Migrants Day – December 18, to protect the migrant workers right

   

• We agree to form an organization for returned ETUMB and MTU members to strength the communication and mobilization in Bangladesh and other countries.

   

• We agree to support to strengthen the GEFONT Migrants committee and encourage to organize return migrants widely in Nepal.

   

• We have reaffirmed the symbolic meaning of MTU as a union formed by and for migrant workers regardless of visa status, and committed ourselves to work necessary to win MTU's legalization.

   

• We agree to organize different protest in front of the South Korean embassy in different countries to make known our demands directly to the South Korean government.

These outcomes show clearly that far from being stopped by the South Korean government's repression, we are able to turn our experience working together in the past into an opportunity to strengthen the migrant workers movement in South Korea and create meaningful relationships between movements in countries of origin and countries of destination.

To this end we have resolved to raise awareness of MTU's struggle for the right to freedom of association of undocumented migrant workers in our home countries and internationally and lift up a collective voice to recognize MTU's legal status by the South Korean government. Through our International Conference we have renewed our comradeship and trust and committed ourselves to work together with new international capacity. This commitment is not only limited to this Network but also to enhance the movement for workers rights in our own countries and throughout the world.

• Stop the Targeted crackdown and Repression against MTU!
• Stop Crackdown and Legalize all Undocumented Migrant Workers!  
• Recognize MTU's Legal Union Status!

   

The participants of the International Conference on Networking

between Countries of Origin and Migrant Workers in South Korea

Kathmandu, 14^th June, 2008

The Korean Metal Workers' Union, one of the country's most militant labor groups with more than 100,000 members, has proposed the industrial action to protest against a planned resumption of U.S. beef imports and other policy agenda of President Lee Myung-bak, including an ambitious canal project and the privatization of state-run companies.

The 45,000-strong union of Hyundai, KMWU's most powerful member, will vote on Thursday and Friday, while the union of Kia Motors will begin voting on Thursday, the umbrella labor groups said on their Web site.

Union officials at Hyundai's main plant in Ulsan, 400 kilometers south of Seoul, confirmed the planned vote...

☞ Massive labor strike looming in S Korea.. (Xinhua, 6.09)

  
*****

Today's Korea Herald published a kind of summary about the last three days of protest in Seoul:

About 50 citizens and police officers were injured Saturday night during the peak of a 72-hour protest in Seoul against U.S. beef imports.

Organized by a coalition of about 1,500 civic groups, tens of thousands of people marched with candles in the city center, demanding that the government renegotiate its beef deal.

The three-day rally began on Friday.. and ended early Sunday.

The protest turned violent on Saturday night as police tried to block citizens from marching toward Cheong Wa Dae. Some demonstrators smashed a police bus with steel pipes and hammers. Riot police were seen hitting protesters on the ground with their shields.

About 20 protesters and 30 policemen were hurt, according to both sides. No serous injuries were reported.

Police said some 40,000 people began the street march around 8:26 p.m. on Saturday after a rally in front of City Hall, and another 4,000 joined by 10 p.m.

The organizing group, whose name roughly translates to "the people's council for countermeasures against mad cow disease," said the number of participants grew from 120,000 to 200,000 as the march continued.

The demonstrators marched from Seoul Plaza (in front of City Hall) to Namdaemun, Myeongdong and Jongno. Some marchers got into a scuffle with riot police on their way to Cheong Wa Dae.

About a dozen people suffered facial and head injuries in the clashes, and 11 who were suspected of attacking police were taken into custody for questioning, according to the police.

Some 8,800 protesters confronted thousands of police at the Gwanghwamun intersection near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, with many spraying fire extinguishers or hurling plastic water bottles. Some shook or climbed on top of police buses or tore the wire mesh protecting the bus windows. They demanded that President Lee Myung-bak come out to listen to them.

About 15,000 riot police were put into force downtown to block the protesters heading towards the presidential office.

Rows of riot police buses blocked the streets of Gwanghwamun yesterday, limiting traffic on Sejongno, the city's main thoroughfare.

The police said that, as of Saturday, 548 people were detained and 56 of them were charged with breaking the law.

Among the participants in the candlelight vigils were families who enjoyed daytime picnics at Seoul Plaza and university students who had returned after being part of the rallies the night before.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (??? - possibly they mean the KCTU..), the nation's second- largest umbrella labor group, along with dozens of university student associations and one of the nation's leading literary groups, have been involved in the vigils.

There have been daily demonstrations since May 24, following more peaceful candlelight vigils held in downtown Seoul since Korea and the United States agreed on new import rules for U.S. beef on April 18.

Internet comments on news articles, along with online discussion sites, have spurred the explosive increase in the number of protesters, with young students to middle-aged people joining the anti-government furor.

"The beef import issue simply pulled the trigger," said Lee Dong-ho, who works at a local company. "There are so many problematic policies, such as the cross-country canal project and privatization of public companies. I can no longer trust what the president says because he lacks basic morals."... (*)