403개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Well, it might be that there are possibly some good(*) news for Seoul's Filipino Market, aka "Little Manila":
The market for the Filipino community held every Sunday, is being allowed to stay at Hyehwa-dong, at least for now, according to Jongno-gu(District) Office.
* But be careful! Because the announcement by Jongno-gu Office to "closely monitoring" the market sounds more like a veiled threat as a sign of understanding, resp. an official approval...
Related articles:
☞ "Little Manila" can stay, for now (Hanopolis, 3.19)
☞ 'Little Manila' to Stay On (Korea Times, 3.18)
☞ Saving Korea's 'Little Manila’ (JoongAng Ilbo, 3.08)
Today's Hankyoreh reports the following:
Lee gov't cuts funding for Korea Labor Institute
The move is being interpreted as retaliation by the Lee Myung-bak administration for the KLI union strike last year
Members of Korean Labor Institute Union held a strike to demand nullification of the
lockout at the KLI building located in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo district, 2009.12.01
The Korean Labor Institute, a government-affiliated research institute on labor issues that has been experiencing heavy labor-management conflicts over the past year, stands at a crossroads because the Lee Myung-bak administration has decided not to draw up any contracts for their research service. As a result, the institute is slated to run out of money to fund operating costs starting in August of this year.
KLI is the institute that participated in the first strike held by a government research institute last year arguing that the newly appointed director of KLI was controlling research that was supposed to be autonomous. Park Ki-seong, then president of KLI, resigned last December following heavy labor-management conflicts including a strike, however, many experts are expressing concerns that the Lee administration is engaging in retaliation by severing the research service contracts.
It has been confirmed that as of March 14, KLI has not signed any research service contracts with the Labor Ministry. KLI fulfilled contracts for 44 research services and received 2.7 billion Won ($2.4 million) in compensation in 2008, and 48 research services for 3.3 billion Won in 2009 with the Labor Minisry. The compensation for these research services comprises half of KLI’s annual budget, thus the institute is expected to face serious financial difficulties starting in August of this year if the current situation continues.
Furthermore, Korea Workplace Innovation Center (KOWIN), one of the affiliated organizations of KLI, is facing a crisis in which it may be forced to close its doors. KOWIN, which is a consulting center for job sharing and family-friendly management, has not paid wages to its employees because it is experiencing such a shortage of funding. KOWIN attempted to begin consultation work in January, however, the Labor Ministry ordered it to stop by saying that the ministry would not fund the consultation programs. Although KOWIN Center’s union, which is separate from the KLI union, made a permanent pledge to not hold a strike, the employees are concerned that the center will be forced to close. As a result, KOWIN is telling its employees to search for new jobs.
Some critics say that this type of retaliation was carried out in order to gag other government research institutes. They also said that this has reduced the efficiency and autonomy of government research institutes.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/410129.html
Yesterday's Los Angeles Times published following piece:
Farmer Kang Ki-kab is one of South Korea's few working-class politicians (*). He says he's "tired of watching politicians ignore the lower classes and cater to the rich."
What South Korea's unlikeliest politician brings to the table
Farmer-turned-National Assembly member Kang Ki-kab went from obscure to infamous. His mission is to make the little guy heard, even if that means stomping around on top of an assembly leader's furniture.
Kang Ki-kab in action (2009.1.05, Nat'l Assembly)
Reporting from Seoul - Kang Ki-kab sighs. Life in Seoul, away from his family and the homestead he calls the Farm That Loves Soil, has proved a lonely existence for South Korea's unlikeliest politician.
He misses the simple chores, like milking his 90 cows, harvesting his sweet Korean plums...
...and tangerines.
He sits in his legislative office, hands clasped calmly on his lap, a monk-like anachronism with a wispy white beard and a flowing cream-colored robe tied with a large bow.
"Our ancestors wore these, why can't I?" he asks.
He strikes a pose.
"Isn't it elegant?" he says. "When I tie these strings, I have a moment to myself. It's good for my mental health."
Kang, 56, seems the very image of earnest serenity, a kind of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" meets David Carradine circa "Kung Fu."
But then you ask about the Table Dance.
After a member of the legislature's security detail accidentally broke Kang's finger while dispersing a January 2009 sit-in, Kang threw a very public tantrum. He jumped onto a table in front of one of the National Assembly's top administrators and, depending on who's telling the story, hopped about apelike or stamped like a child.
Then he overturned the table and stormed away to kick at the barricaded office door of another political opponent, and later chained himself to the entry of the legislature's main chamber.
"My critics may call it a show, but I desperately wanted to make a point about the country's wrongheaded direction," he says."When people refused to listen, I was angry -- I was outraged."
Kang, one of South Korea's first politicians to rise to national office from the working classes, symbolizes voters' growing resentment of business as usual in the capital. Many are disenchanted with a government run by male-dominated intellectual elites and hyper-successful entrepreneurs with little sense of what it's like for middle-class families coping with rising prices and stubborn unemployment.
Like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Kang emerged on the national political scene as an unknown from the hinterlands. Like Palin, his plain-spoken approach has charmed many voters.
He envisions a South Korea less dependent on U.S. military power, and he is against sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. He also wants to create a wider social safety net. He revels in his status as the consummate outsider, a politician who survives nicely, thank you, without the campaign contributions and old-boy connections most of his peers rely on.
"People like him as this unrepentant anti-modernist," says David Kang, director of the Korean Studies Institute at USC. "He represents this folksy Norman Rockwell view of politicians. He represents a Korean history that probably never existed, but still has its appeal."
Even as comics and the media lampoon him and colleagues privately wince, Kang Ki-kab insists on being himself, a fiercely independent country soul who says he entered politics to help protect the nation's farmers, a social outsider who feels trapped in the big city.
But before going home, he says, he has a mission to complete.
"I'm tired of watching politicians ignore the lower classes and cater to the rich, and I want to do something about it," he says. "In that way, I'm walking with the cross on my shoulder, like Jesus did."
Nobody expected Kang to win a second term in 2008 when he faced off against a ruling-party big shot and close friend of President Lee Myung-bak.
But the peasant's son from rural South Gyeongsang province, about as far as you can get from South Korea's seat of power, pulled off an election day stunner for his Democratic Labor Party.
Kang refers to himself as a political David prevailing amid Goliath-sized odds.
"I threw eggs and broke rocks," he says. "I always think I can win."
After his reelection, Kang was investigated on accusations of campaign irregularities, including defaming a rival candidate, but a judge imposed a fine rather than pursue criminal charges, preserving Kang's hard-won victory.
The former protest organizer for the Korean Peasant League first ran for the legislature in 2004, promising to aid the nation's lower classes -- the peasants, fishermen and farmers. In a national arena full of scrappy fighters, the father of four quickly stood out for his parliamentary antics and thirst for publicity.
Kang has waged at least six hunger strikes; the longest lasted 31 days. Most were attempts to focus attention on the plight of rural South Korea. Lacking subsidies, more than a third of farmers and their families have left the countryside for the city, he said.
To help fund his causes, Kang says, he returns nearly two-thirds of his $7,000 monthly salary to his party.
"He really is a true believer. It's clear that he's not in politics for the money," says Andy Jackson, a columnist for the Korea Times. "He is sincere. His problem is that he is a little too sincere.
"He seems to believe the people he's fighting really are evil. And if you believe that, it justifies the things that you do."
For Kang, the biggest villain is the United States. He is the chief opponent of the U.S.-South Korean free trade agreement and went on a fast to oppose the opening of local markets to U.S. rice.
South Korea already imports more than 70% of its food, Kang notes. Farmers simply cannot compete with cheap imports.
In 2008, protests he led against U.S. beef swept South Korea. He also opposes the American military presence here.
"The U.S. troops are unnecessary," he says. "The Korean War ended 50 years ago. If our nation goes to war, our own troops can do the fighting. The Americans should go home."
Detractors dismiss Kang as a political opportunist.
"He's not qualified to be a lawmaker in South Korea," says Seo Seok-gu, a lawyer and a member of the Assn. of U.S.-Korea Friendship. "He's too radical."
Kang doesn't like talking about the Table Dance, saying that events that day seemed to slip from his grasp.
As he was being dragged by security personnel seeking to end a sit-in by his party, a guard stepped on Kang's hand, breaking his finger.
That, and what he calls the ruling party's arrogance, set him off.
"I really want to work very gently, but my responsibility is to the people I represent."
He stormed into the office of Assembly Secretary-General Park Kye-dong. "He was sitting there, doing nothing," Kang recalls. "I couldn't hit him, but I wanted him to pay attention to me."
Park refused, calmly flipping through a newspaper, Kang says.
"I got up on the table. I jumped off and flipped it over," he says. "I was saying: 'Look at me! Pay attention to me!' But he wouldn't."
Kang was later sued by government officials for obstructing justice and public duties; a judge dismissed the lawsuit.
"I know I crossed a line," Kang says. "I was too angry, too extreme."
He gazes out the window.
"In the spring, that farm seduces me to return to it," he says. "I'd rather farm than do politics any day."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-korea-outsider2-2010mar02,0,5114262,full.story
* "Working-class politician"? Sorry, but (for me) he's looking more like an ancient feudal landowner/aristocrat...
(photo source: LAT, 3.03)
Two days ago The Hankyoreh reported following:
Independent film directors protest KOFIC decision..
Some 155 directors who signed a boycott statement(*) say they cannot allow their films to be screened in theaters to be managed by the KOFIC-appointed ADKF
Independent film directors are sharply criticizing the outcome of the selection process for the new managers of the independent film theater IndieSpace and MediACT Media Center programs. Some are saying that a biased selection process has resulted in a government push to hand management rights to pro-government groups.
A press conference for “One Hundred Independent Filmmakers Opposed to the Unfair Independent Film Theater Management Selection” took place Thursday afternoon at Neutinamu Hall in the basement of the People’s Solidarity for a Participatory Democracy (PSPD) headquarters in the Tongin neighborhood of Seoul’s Jongno district. The eight directors in attendance included Lee Chung-ryul, whose film “Old Partner” set a monumental box office record by drawing three million viewers last year, and Yang Ik-june, whose “Breathless” elevated the standing of Korean independent film as it swept through acclaimed world film festivals. Some 155 independent directors signed a boycott statement saying that they could not allow their films to be screened at IndieSpace, a theater now managed by the Association for Diversity in Korean Film (ADKF), which was selected through the recent screening to manage the independent film theater program.
Lee said, “I came here not because my views or ideas differ from those of the current administration or the Korean Film Council, but simply because I feel that there has been a recent string of events that I cannot understand in common sense terms.” Lee also noted that last-place finishers in the first selection process for the independent film theater and MediACT project managers came in first in the second selection process. Lee added, “This is not suited to the Lee Myung-bak administration and its talk about efficiency.” Lee said the developing situation is “like watching some low comedy.”
Yang said, “Over the decade of my involvement in independent film, I have been learning bit by bit what independent film is.” However, he commented that the people selected to manage the programs “are people I do not know at all, and I have no way of knowing how they intend to run the independent film theater program or MediACT.”
Yang added, “It is ironic that creators, who should be encountering viewers through their films, instead show their faces before the media like this; it shows how constricted the windpipe of our culture is.” Yang said that current administration “is making someone like me, who did not even know what ruling and opposition parties were, read up on society.”
IndieSpace, the independent film theater program and MediACT are projects that were proposed to the government by the Association of Korean Independent Film and Video (KIFV) after more than a decade of preparation and discussions. Until last year, the projects were entrusted to the KIFV by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). However, in 2009 KOFIC announced that it was switching to a competitive selection system, and after failing to be selected as project managers during the first competition, ADKF and the Institute for Citizen Visual Culture (ICVC), were selected respectively to operate IndieSpace and MediACT during the second competitive selection process in January.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_entertainment/405579.html
Related editorial in The Hankyoreh(2.20):
☞ KOFIC should reconduct selection of MediACT management
* The list of the 155 initial signers:
강미자(푸른 강은 흘러라) / 경순(쇼킹패밀리) / 고은기(내 사랑 유리에) / 공미연(전장에서 나는) / 구자환(우공이산) /권우정(땅의 여자) / 권효(원웨이 티켓) / 김경만(바보는 감기에 걸리지 않는다) / 김경묵(청계천의 개) / 김곡(고갈) / 김동명(이상한 나라의 바툼바) / 김동령(아메리칸 엘리) / 김동원(송환) / 김명준(우리 학교) / 김미례(외박) / 김선(자가당착) / 김성균(기타이야기) / 김숙현(모던한 쥐선생과의 대화) / 김영남(내 청춘에게 고함) / 김영근(산책가) / 김예영(산책가) / 김유리(뭐 때문에 살아) / 김은경(뉴스페이퍼맨: 어느 신문지국장의 죽음) / 김은민(내 청춘을 돌려다오) / 김이찬(동행) / 김일란(3xFTM) / 김일안(피바랜 광주) / 김조광수(친구사이?) / 김종관(Down Down FTA!) / 김준호(길) / 김주현(그날 이후) / 김지곤(오후 세 시) / 김지현(앞산전) / 김지현(고양이들) / 김진열(진옥언니, 학교 가다) / 김태진() /김태일(안녕 사요나라) / 김현성(흩날리는 것들) / 김형남(외가) / 김홍완(기차역에서) / 김환태(국경은 없다) / 김효정(춤추는 동물원) / 김희철(진실의 문) / 나루(돌 속에 갇힌 말) / 나비(개청춘) / 남다정(아이들은 잠시 외출했을 뿐이다) / 남태제(학교) / 란희(쉼터를 만나다) / 류미례(엄마…) / 류형기(너와 나의 이십일 세기) / 문정현(할매꽃) / 민동현(지우개 따먹기) / 민용근(도둑소년) / 민환기(소규모아카시아밴드이야기) / 박경태(나와 부엉이) / 박동훈(계몽영화) / 박성용(춤추는 동물원) / 박소현(우리 학교) / 박수정(다시, 삶으로) / 박은영(토굴 속의 아이) / 박인희(청춘예찬) / 박정숙(동백아가씨) / 박종필(거리에서) / 박준영(허웅이야기) / 박지완(여고생이다) / 박홍열(이것은 다큐멘터리가 아니다) / 박홍준(소년마부) / 백승기(출동 사십삼 호) / 백승빈(장례식의 멤버) / 백현진(디 엔드) / 변해원(철탑, 2008년 2월25일 박현상씨) / 부지영(지금, 이대로가 좋아요) / 서동일(핑크팰리스) / 서재경(외출) / 선우문영() / 성충경(출동 사십삼 호) / 소상민(나는 곤경에 처했다) / 소준문(올드랭사인) / 손경화(개청춘) / 손광주(단속평형) / 손영(잊지 않을 거야) / 손영성(약탈자들) / 송해나(환심) / 신이수(구보씨일보) / 신동일(반두비) / 안슬기(지구에서 사는 법) / 양익준(똥파리) / 양해훈(저수지에서 건진 치타) / 언저리(그의 자연) / 연상호(사랑은 단백질) / 오건영(에필로그) / 오영필(서쪽나라) / 유동종(간이역) / 윤강로(가지 않는, 모든 것들) / 윤성호(은하해방전선) / 윤영호(바이칼) / 윤지석(스위치) / 이강길(살기 위하여) / 이강현(파산의 기술) / 이걸기(시합) / 이경원(경북 문경으로 시작하는 짧은 주소) / 이란희(파마) / 이마리오(주민등록증을 찢어라!) / 이성강(살결) / 이송희일(탈주) / 이숙경(어떤 개인 날) / 이승영(여기보다 어딘가에) /이영(OUT: 이반검열 두 번째 이야기) / 이용배(사랑을 찾아서) / 이우정(개를 키워봐서 알아요) / 이유림(새끼여우) / 이재수(새만금 네가 아프니 나도 아프다) / 이정아(남의 속도 모르고) / 이종필(불을 지펴라) / 이지상(몽실언니) / 이지연(김문정) / 이진필(알고 싶지 않은) / 이충렬(워낭소리) / 이현정(192-399: 더불어사는집이야기) / 이혜란(우리들은 정의파다) / 임덕윤(조금 불편한 그다지 불행하지 않은 0.24) / 임창재(바람의 노래) / 임춘민(평촌의 언니들) / 임호경(Act of life) / 장건재(회오리바람) / 장세경(누구세요) / 장은주(교미기2. 비밀스런 짐승) / 장형윤(무림일검의 사생활) / 장훈(불한당들) / 전경진(학교이야기) / 정경록(고기도시) / 정미나(불안의 최전방) / 정병길(우린 액션배우다) / 정재훈(호수길) / 정지연(봄에 피어나다) / 정창영(경계에 선 인생) / 조대흠() / 조세영(버라이어티 생존토크쇼) / 조재형(그 날) / 주현숙(계속된다: 미등록 이주노동자 기록되다) / 지민(개청춘) / 지윤정(Page_214) / 진소영() / 채기(빛나는 거짓) / 최신춘(알바당선언) / 최영태(스크린플레이) / 최창환(호명인생) / 태소정(더 밴드) / 태준식(샘터분식) / 한영희(레즈비언 정치도전기) / 한범승(가리봉 오거리) / 홍지유(레즈비언 정치도전기) / 홍형숙(경계도시2) / 황윤(어느 날 그 길에서) / 황철민(양 한 마리, 양 두 마리)
Seoul's "re-development" Mafia (a collaboration of the city bureaucracy with the construction Mafia) selected the next victim to realize its f*cking gentrification program: the Filipino Market in Hyehwa-dong...
...the Sunday venue for the migrant worker community from the Philippines(*).
The bourgeois Korea Times reported last week(2.10) following:
Seoul’s 'Little Manila' Faces Closure
Jongno District Office in Seoul has told the Filipino community to stop holding a market in Hyehwa-dong, citing complaints from passers-by and residents.
The marketplace, dubbed "Little Manila," first emerged in 1997, and takes place every Sunday for Filipinos after attending a mass at the Hyehwa Catholic Church. About 1,200 to 2,000 Filipinos gather at the marketplace...
...which some consider as a fine example of Korea's racial harmony. There are about 46,000 Filipinos in Korea, forming the fifth largest ethnic group...
Father Alvin Parantar, chaplain of the Hyehwa-dong Filipino Catholic Community, who acts as a representative for the ethnic community, confirmed the district office's request, adding that it was like the district kicking them out for its own convenience without providing an alternative site for their gathering.
"The reasons they gave up us was one, they received complaints from neighbors and pedestrians in the area; two, there were concerns about cleanliness and order; three, they want to redevelop the sidewalk and include a waterfall wall in the area; and four, they want to transfer the market to a new multicultural market," the priest told The Korea Times over the phone.
"It's a Philippine way of life. We go to church, then go to the market to buy provisions and meet friends. It's an expression of Philippine culture. The national government has a policy about supporting multiculturalism in Korea, but there seems to be a contradiction with the district office's plans. The church and the market should go together and not be separated," he said.
Outside the church, there are usually 16 vendors selling Philippine products and cooked food. Many Filipinos living not just in Seoul, but also from the provinces, flock to the market to buy products from their home country
Parantar noted the problems raised by the district office can be addressed by the vendors at the market.
"The problems that they raised can be resolved by talking to the vendors. They are willing to cooperate. If they are concerned about the cleanliness and orderliness in the area, they can address the problems. If they want to redevelop the area again, they can integrate the Philippine market according to their plans," Parantar said.
The district office said they have received civil petitions from the neighborhood and they have to take some measures against the Philippine market.
"There were many complaints from the pedestrians and residents. There also is a possibility of accidents as Filipinos flock out of the church after mass into car lanes," said Lee Jong-ju of the district's construction management division.
"Some vendors occupy more than eight meters on the street and it causes an inconvenience to pedestrians."
The district also connected the move to the eviction of other street vendors in Jongno, who were "moved" to "specialized areas" away from the street.
"All street stalls have vanished from Jongno and some people think the same rule should be applied to the Philippine market," he said.
"We talked about the situation with the representatives of the Philippine community three times and gave them some alternatives," Lee said.
The district suggested moving to the grounds of Dongsung High School, but the school refused to participate. Another idea was shifting it to an area in front of the Catholic University of Korea campus, however, it has failed to respond to the suggestion.
"For the best, we want them to move into the multicultural street which is going to open in Nakwon-dong in March. However, they rebuffed the idea since it is isolated from their church and community," Lee said.
He added that the district will try not to use physical force. "The best way would be to transfer them to a designated area, but otherwise we are going to crack down on the market from March," he said.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/02/117_60641.html
* The gov't-run Korea Tourism Organisation about the market:
Related article:
☞ Filipinos Collect Signatures to Save 'Little Manila' (K. Times, 2.16)
Two days ago The Hankyoreh reported following:
NHRCK: Police crackdown during
Yongsan Tragedy was illegal
The NHRCK’s opinion also calls for the indictment of members of the police leadership, including SMPA Commissioner Kim Seok-ki
National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) submitted its opinion concerning the Yongsan Tragedy to the court, and stated in the report that the behavior of police during crackdown reached a stage of illegality on Tuesday(*). The NHRCK’s opinion is expected to have a huge impact on the Yongsan Tragedy issue because it also states that there is a need to indict members of the police leadership, including Kim Seok-ki, commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA).
The NHRCK stated in their opinion, “We believe that the police behavior at that time was illegal because police officers were in violation of a number of regulations stipulated in laws and ordinances.” The NHRCK cited specific examples as proof, such as the fact that the leader during the crackdown did not educate and inform the officers of the possible threat of a fire, and carried out the second crackdown without changing operational tactics even though the first attempted crackdown exhibited signs of a high possibility of a fire.
Additionally, the NHRCK emphasized, “If the government does not punish the illegal actions committed by public entities, it will do a great deal of damage to our Constitution.” The NHRCK added, “The trial to determine whether the police engaged in illegal behavior will set an important precedent.”
Prior to the NHRCK’s report, the individuals who were indicted by prosecutors in connection to the Yongsan Tragedy included Lee Chung-yeon, the head of a group of Yongsan residents refusing eviction. The group of indicted individuals accused 14 members of the police leadership, including Kim Seok-ki, of accidental homicide, however, prosecutors rejected their accusations. In South Korea, if prosecutors refuse to indict certain individuals while controversies remain surrounding a case, citizens may petition the court directly for an indictment.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/403987.html
* “용산 사건, 경찰 주의의무 위반했다” (인권위원회, 2.09)
P.S.
Emmm.. It's only a matter of time - IMO - before the LMB administration commands the closure of the NHRCK!!^^
MediAct sent y'day following update about the current protest/solidarity campaign:
Within one week's time starting Jan. 26, we were able to generate signatures from folks from over 42 countries.
Your actions lent a voice to Mediact staff and supporters within South Korea demanding a reversal of KOFIC & the Cuture Ministry's decision to dismantle Mediact.
The petition was delivered during the week of Feb 1. to the head offices in Seoul as well as through various Korean Consulates (Tokyo, Osaka, Vancouver, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Taipei and this week via Budapest).
KOFIC has since sent a formal reply maintaining a line about the 'fairness' of its 'new open competition process,' and in turn, many of you (joined by press outlets within South Korea ranging from independent to conservative press) in return are demanding that it share the criteria and the application materials from the first and second round for (international) public review, and are questioning the legality of KOFIC and the Culture Ministry's actions.
Now lawmakers in the National Assembly are preparing to push a reversal of the decision during the February session.
Please help maintain a vigilant watch over this process! You are making a difference! Encourage someone or some organization you know to endorse the petition, cover this issue, visit the consulate office near you, and participate in a creative act of support.
For all other updates, please see:
☞ ACT NOW to save MediAct & Independent Media in Korea!
Previous contribution:
☞ MediAct & the S.Korean 'Democracy'
Today's ("left"-liberal) Hankyoreh published following article:
DLP investigation issue strengthening
opposition party solidarity
DLP members hold a press conference to voice opposition to the search and seizure
conducted on DLP’s server at their headquarters in Seoul, Feb. 8.
Participants at a meeting of four opposition party chairs Monday morning expressed their anger arising from the police investigation of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP). The chairs, representing the DLP, the Democratic Party (DP), the New Progressive Party (NPP) and the Creative Korea Party (CKP), reportedly were unanimous in their criticism of the investigation, saying that the investigation of DLP members, on the heels of investigations of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook and former CKP chair Moon Kook-hyun, smacks of a targeted campaign against opposition parties.
Criticisms also rained down at a meeting of the DP Supreme Council Monday morning. Council member Park Joo-sun said, “Just as it is not acceptable to conduct a brain exam and open up a patient who comes in for treatment with a wound on the hand, we cannot accept this excessive investigation of the DLP.” Park added, “In 1987, when the opposition United Democratic Party was founded, the Roh Tae-woo administration hired gangsters to block the assembly.” Park continued, “Is this the Lee Myung-bak administration’s ‘Yongpal incident redux’” Youngpal, a gang leader, was hired by the former authoritarian administration to intimidate and destroy the general assembly meetings of opposition parties.
In the afternoon, DP spokesman Woo Sang-ho devoted about half of his remarks to the issue. “According to media reports, teachers and teachers’ groups supporting the Grand National Party (GNP) have paid untold amounts of contributions and engaged in all kinds of support activities for the GNP over the past seven or eight years,” Woo said. “Why are they not being investigated?”
Woo added, “In keeping with the equity of its investigations of the DLP and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers‘ Union, the Lee Myung-bak administration needs to immediately carry out a search and seizure on GNP-leaning teachers’ groups and the GNP itself.”
This marks the first time opposition parties have joined forces to fight a particular issue since last August, when the DP and DLP formed a joint fact-finding committee to investigation allegations about the Defense Security Command’s (DSC) civilian surveillance. At the time, their activities were buried by the confirmation hearing for Prime Minister Chung Un-chan and the parliamentary audit of the administration and failed to conclude as they had hoped. This time, however, their response differs in its intensity.
During the previous incident, the DSC had suspected the ideology of members of the DLP and monitored them to see if they were violating the National Security Act, and other opposition parties that were not particularly concerned about ideological arguments kept their criticisms at a basic level. In this incident, however, the other opposition parties are perceiving the investigation as their own issue and pursuing direct action. Monday’s meeting among the four opposition party chairs reportedly took place at the suggestion of DP Chairman Chung Sye-kyun. Spokesman Woo said, “If the police get their hands on the party register and begin to summon people one by one, who will want to be part of the opposition? People will be too scared.”
Woo added, “If this type of incident took place among our local constituencies, only a third of our party members would remain.”
Also readily lending its support was the NPP, which has maintained awkward relations with the DLP since their split in 2008. NPP Chairman Roh Hoi-chan visited the DLP headquarters on Monday and strongly voiced criticism of the Lee administration to DLP Chairman Kang Ki-kab. Roh said, “During the time of progressive adminstrations, the police did not go about breaking into party headquarters and snatching party registers.” Kang responded, “I can now see that internal solidarity comes about when external troubles arise. Thank you for coming here first.”
Kang also said, “If you tread on the barley roots in the cold winter so that they do not freeze, the barley will rise up bright green in the spring. We must respond together in the same way.”
This activity also appears likely to have positive effects on the opposition party election coalition currently being discussed ahead of this year’s regional elections. DLP spokesman Woo Wi-young said, “What use is it trying to do a good job when an election is around the corner?” Woo added, “Our cooperation in the regional elections can only produce a synergy effect when we are on good terms ordinarily, provide mutual support when times are tough, and build up trust.”
In view of this, some analysts are saying that the proactive response by the DP, the primary opposition party, will be of considerable help in achieving solidarity among opposition parties and unity between progressive camps and camps supporting reform.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/403735.html
Today's protest/press conference in front of the S.K. parliament in Seoul/Yeouido (source: KCTU)
Today's (bourgeois) Korea Herald reports following:
Arrest warrant issued for DLP official
The court (today) issued the arrest warrant on Oh Byeong-yoon, secretary general of the minority Democratic Labor Party, on charges of destroying the evidence of the alleged collusion between labor unions and the party.
Oh is suspected of receiving and hiding two sets of computer hard disks containing proof that labor union members illicitly participated in votes, according to officials.
Investigators suspect that other party members were involved in the act and will seek their arrest warrants as well, said officials.
The police last month raised the investigation on illicit political fund allegations of the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers and the Korean Government Employees' Unions.
Government officials or teachers are forbidden to join political parties or to raise political funds, according to the Constitution and the civil servant law.
While leading the investigation on 800 KTEU members who breached the National Security Law by issuing an antigovernment statement last July, investigators found evidence of illegal political activity involving 290 members.
During the investigation, 120 members were found out to have joined the party and many even participated in the party vote for its officials, said police officials.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/02/10/201002100031.asp
Related report:
☞ 민주노동당 사무총장 체포영장 발부 (KCTU, 2.09)
Yesterday's (bourgeois) Korea Times wrote following:
Is Media Center Taking Conservative Tone?
The Media Center, opened in 2002 and located on the fifth floor of the Ilmin Museum in Gwanghwamun, is a public cultural organization offering media education programs.
"We helped citizens to communicate socially though video clips, educated them about the media and rented out resources," said a representative of Mediact, the center's former operator.
The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) funds the center's operation and selects the operator. When it opened, the Association of Korean Independent Film and Video (AKIFV) established Mediact and was given operational control of the Media Center after signing a contract with the council.
'Members of Mediact International Solidarity protest Tuesday in front of the Ministry of Culture, Sports
and Tourism for depriving Mediact of its contract to run Media Center, a state-subsidized media
education facility, and hiring a conservative organization as new operator' (K. Times, 2.03)
However, in April last year the Board of Audit and Inspection ordered the AKIFV to pay back the subsidy that was provided to Mediact for 2008 to 2009, alleging a misuse of funds. Additionally, KOFIC opened the operating contract to public bidding instead of renewing its contract with the AKIFV.
The Citizen's Video Cultural Organization (CVCO) was selected as the new operator, despite Mediact's claims that it had done nothing wrong.
Observers suspect that the change was part of the government's efforts to bring a more conservative tone to the nation's media sector.
The CVCO was established on Jan. 6 this year and is headed by Prof. Kim Jong-kuk of Hongik University, who also works for the conservative "New Right" cultural organization, Cultural Future Forum.
Mediact claimed the selection was a setback to media democracy in Korea and filed an online petition titled "Media and Democracy in South Korea: Save Mediact." Across the world, 600 people had signed the petition as of Tuesday. They submitted the petition to the culture ministry and the KOFIC.
Mahbub Alam, a Bangladeshi actor who starred in the Korean movie "Bandhobi" last year, supported Mediact at a press conference in front of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and Tourism, Tuesday.
"Independent movies are a place that allow for minorities to communicate, not only those who have money and power," Alam said. "I want to create a media education program in my home country and Mediact is a role model."
KOFIC Chairman Cho Hee-moon rebutted any suggestion of ideology in changing the contractor. Cho is considered a conservative figure in the movie world and worked for the presidential transition committee of current President Lee Myung-bak.
He said most applicants for the operator position were newly founded organizations and the KOFIC went through the proper selection process at a press conference Monday. Cho said he couldn't renew the contract with Mediact since it was suspected of misusing the subsidy.
"The core of the suspicion is why Mediact was eliminated and how trustworthy the new organization is. Our efforts to choose the best operator have been ignored," Cho said.
Mediact refuted Cho's remarks, saying they were contradictory as the KOFIC considers Mediact to be a newly established organization while recognizing its connection to the former operator AKIFV.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/02/117_60242.html
SAVE MediACT!! - International Solidarity:
☞ Int'l Day Of Action To Support MediAct
☞ SAVE Mediact! 厳重警備のなか韓国大使館抗議アクション
Previous contribution:
☞ MEDIACT영상미디어센터
최근 덧글 목록