Data about the Repression to the Democratic and Pro-Reunification Activists in south Korea

Data about the Repression to the Democratic and Pro-Reunification Activists in south Korea

1)Of Han Sang-gyun, the Chairman of the KCTU

He organized the 1^st Mass Indignation Meeting on November 14^th and the south Korean fascist police arrested him recklessly and prosecuted him for the violation of several acts such as sedition on December 18^th.

Denouncing it, next day, various circles of the people held the 3^rd Mass Indignation Meeting and US trade union, AFL-CIO condemned the south Korean fascist clique.

2) Of democratic and pro-reunification activists

ㅡOn November 27^th, the south Korean fascist prosecution sentenced to 5 year's imprisonment to Hwang Seon for the violation of “NSL”.

She has held lecture meeting in various places in south Korea with Shin Eun-mi to inform the correct reality of the DPRK and the urgent need of reunification.

ㅡOn December 14, the south Korean fascist prosecution sentenced to 3 year's imprisonment to Park Chang-suk, a counselor of the South Headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country’s Reunification.

The fascists insisted that she has shared the news concerning with the DPRK and it was a clear and exact violation of “NSL”.

3) Of the followers of Juche idea.

Now in south Korea, various circles of the people study and follow the Juche idea.

Embarrassed with it, the south Korean regime intensify the repression to the followers.

On December 22th, the fascists arrested and prosecuted a clergyman for the violation of “NSL”.

He has studied Juche idea with his several colleagues and friends.

4) Of the  United Progressive Party

On December 19^th, 2014, the south Korean fascist authorities dissolved the legitimate United Progressive Party illegally.

The party had struggle for the democratization of society and national reunification.

The fascists arrested the main members of the party, but the struggle has been continued by other members.

Now, they are trying to reorganize their organization and have struggle more vigorously.

5) Of the  progressive mass media

At the beginning of 2015, the progressive mass media “Jajuminbo” was labeled as a pro-DPRK news and defunct by the south Korean fascists.

And also all progressive organizations such as Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union and the Lawyers for Democratic Society are repressed the fascists.

6) The long term un-converted prisoners

In south Korea 23 long term un-converted prisoners are left.

Of them Kim Ki-chang is the eldest and he is 96 years old.

Right now, they are not in jail, but their livelihood in south Korea is miserable.

Although they are in awkward situation, they have struggled for the national reunification vigorously.

KCTU Goes on General Strike in S. Korea

  Pyongyang, December 19 (KCNA) -- The south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) went on a general strike in unison in 12 regions on Dec. 16 in protest against the fascist suppression and unpopular rule by the conservative ruling quarters.
    The general strike involved 150 000 persons including the unionists of 26 companies under the KCTU.
    About 5 000 unionists from Seoul, Inchon, Kyonggi Province and south Korean Kangwon Province rallied near the building of the "National Assembly" in Seoul before going into the general strike.
    The senior vice-chairman of the KCTU said at the rally it is time to stand up against the authorities with action and struggle now that they have reached the extremity in their moves for the retrogressive revision of the labor law.
    The representatives of the metal workers trade union, the public transport trade union, the healthcare service trade union and other industrial trade unions declared in their speeches that many industrial trade unions turned out in the general strike, contrary to the authorities' prediction that the KCTU would no longer wage a struggle with its chairman detained.
    A resolution was read out at the rally.
    The participants marched to the building of the economists association, denouncing the regime and plutocrats for seeking the retrogressive revision of the labor law.
    Timed to coincide with it, Pusan and Ulsan headquarters of the KCTU held similar rallies.
    The regional headquarters of the KCTU held demos and conducted information services following the rallies in Inchon, Kwangju, Taejon, Taegu, Jeju Island, North Chungchong, South Kyongsang and North Jolla provinces. -0-

Park Geun-hye, Step Down!

The action of south Korean people of every degree against the misgovernment of the south Korean authorities is getting fiercer.

The second all-out people’s action was held in Seoul on December 5 in the wake of the first all-out people's action had been held on November 14.

Presented there were 50 000 people across south Korea including workers, peasants, youth and students, citizens and religious men.

They wished quick recovery of Baek Nam-ki, a peasant who fell into a critical condition by the water cannon of the riot police in the last action and demanded harsh suppression of the police, check of labor reform and opposition to the “government-censored system of history textbook”.

Through his speech the Chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, who is in hiding at the Chogye Order from the police suppression, said that hundreds of people are being arrested, wanted and summoned to the court, the case in the military dictatorship is reproducing, the Nov. 14 action is the most righteous one, we would be suppressed in a certain time but the repressive dictatorial regime would not hinder our action.

At the time, an organization composed of the workers, peasants, the poor and civilians declared that it would launch the third all-out people's action on Dec. 19.

It demanded the resignation of the Park regime, suspension of labor reform, opposition to import of foreign made rice, creation of employment of the youth, discontinuance of withdrawal of street vendors, and railroading of “state censorship of history textbook” for middle and high schools.

What is conspicuous in the rally is that the participants put on masks instead of veil to protest against the bill on prohibition of using veil proposed by the ruling party and Park Geun-hye’s description about the participants as “IS”.

Twenty-four political figures including the opposition parties took part in the rally to march through the street.

After the rally, the participants marched down to the Hospital of Seoul National University where Baek is in the hospital.

Spokesman for C.C., GFTUK Assails South Korean Conservative Authorities' Fascist Crackdown upon People

 Pyongyang, December 2 (KCNA) -- The south Korean conservative ruling group is getting ever more frantic with fascist suppression of people. It is kicking up a whirlwind of wholesale seizure and search operations and arrest against not only the chairman of the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and its other leading members but also its headquarters and trade union organizations under it under the absurd pretext that they spearheaded the all-people rallies held in Seoul recently. Meanwhile, courts are demanding heavy penalties for pro- democracy and reunification figures already arrested and detained.
    Even the south Korean chief executive cried out for "severely punishing the backstage forces according to the law and principle", likening the people of various circles who rose up in the action to terrorists of the "Islamic State". Chiming in with her outbursts, the gentries of the "Saenuri Party" are working hard to fake up "a law on combating terrorism", a new fascist law, and "a law on prohibiting the wearing of masks" in a bid to stamp out the progressive democratic forces.
    The south Korean conservative group, in particular, is issuing everyday orders to indiscriminately crack down on the people of various circles who declared their plan to hold the second all-people rallies against the authorities' fascist suppression by mobilizing the "field arrest group" just like the "Paekgoldan" dating back to the period of the military dictatorship, creating a horror-ridden atmosphere.
    A spokesman for the Central Committee of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea issued a statement on Wednesday in this regard.
    The waves of the horrible repressive campaign sweeping south Korea are an unpardonable fascist action against democracy and human rights and a blatant challenge to the public aspiring after justice, patriotism and genuine life, the statement noted, and continued:.
    The actions of the people from all walks of life being staged in south Korea everyday are an eruption of their grudge and resentment against the conservative group which trampled down the justice and truth and drove the people's living and rights into darkness and distress by pursuing sycophancy and treachery, escalating the confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north, reviving "yusin" dictatorship and enforcing an unpopular rule.
    It is quite natural for the south Korean workers and other people to turn out in the dynamic struggle for defending their rights to existence and democracy, unable to tolerate the conservative ruling forces' treacherous rule.
    What is stunning people all the more is the fact that the fascist dictatorial forces including the Intelligence Service fabricated such confrontational and conspiratorial case as what they called "case of reverend" and are linking it with the DPRK in a bid to intensify the crackdown on the just struggle of the south Korean people of various circles.
    It is the stereotyped method of the south Korean conservative group to crack down on the pro-democracy and reunification forces by fabricating security cases and stir up the confrontation with the DPRK whenever it is driven into a serious ruling crisis.
    The south Korean conservative authorities' smear campaign against the DPRK and brutal fascist tyranny only reveal their true colors as traitors forsaken by the people and their miserable position in which they are floundering in the worst ruling crisis after being marginalized by the public.
    The south Korean conservative authorities should stop at once their fascist crackdown upon the people, drawing a lesson from the miserable end of the preceding dictators who faced a stern judgment by history for desperately enforcing the fascist rule and ratcheting up the confrontation with the DPRK. -0-

UK KFA Trade Union Section denounces fascist action against south Korean KCTU

On the 21st of November The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency hurled more than 370 policemen into operations for searching offices of the headquarters of the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, progressive labor movement organization, and its affiliated bodies.
     The fascist policemen stormed at least ten offices of the KCTU headquarters and eight trade unions including the Metal Workers Trade Union and Builders Trade Union and conducted the search operation early in the morning under the pretext of seeking "evidence proving the spearheading of the violent demonstration"

We strongly denounce this suppression of a legitimate trade union that was defending the rights of workers .It is an unparalleled act of fascist violence against workers. The south Korean puppet regime is the enemy of all working people.

Article from British TUC on south Korea

 Good that the British TUC(not actually much good at defending the rights of UK workers ) is starting to wake up to the fact that south Korea is a very bad place for workers indeed . Of course the title should be "south Korea's broken promises' . The article does not mention the dependent and neo-colonial nature of sk but it is good that the British trade movement is ending its long silence on the repression of workers in south Korea.

                    It goes without saying that the south Korean puppet regime is an enemy of the working people and the trade union movement. All agreements like the south Korea -EU are aiming at increasing the dependency of south Korea on world monopoly capital and exploiting south Korean workers even more !

 http://strongerunions.org/2015/11/24/koreas-broken-promises-sound-alarm-over-oecd-membership-trade-agreements/

(south)Korea’s broken promises sound alarm over OECD membership & trade agreements

24 Nov 2015, By Owen Tudor

South Korea is often held up as the poster boy for international development. A poverty-stricken country after the war with the North, and ruled by a military dictatorship from 1961 to 1987, it is now a member of the G20 and the rich democracies club of the OECD. Its bilateral trade agreement with the European Union is hailed as one of the most demonstrably successful new-style trade agreements. It is also, of course, a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). And, frankly, Korea is unworthy of its role on the global stage, because of the way it treats trade unions.
Korea is well on the way to becoming a pariah state in terms of trade union rights. And the impunity with which its broken promises have been met explains why the British trade union movement has become a lot less willing to accept trade agreements and the expansion of international institutions.
On top of years of abuses, the Korean Government of President Park Geun-hye, daughter of the dictator who ran Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979, has recently tightened the screw on trade unions opposing the exploitation of workers. Last week, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady joined a global union protest against attacks on the Korean Public Services and Transport Workers Union (KPTU) on 6 November when  a high altitude protest by a union chapter led to a raid by 200 police not only on the local office, but the KPTU head office, confiscating union documents and computers. And now the offices of the TUC’s sister organisation in Korea – the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) – have been raided, its President in hiding in the Jogyesa Buddhist Temple in Seoul, for organising protests against the new trade union law.
The G20 has no rules to abide by, but the other transnational agreements and institutions mentioned above all require signatories to uphold the rights of workers to freedom of association, the right to strike and free collective bargaining. And Korea is getting worse and worse, riding roughshod over those principles. ILO membership requires countries to abide by and promote the eight core labour conventions, including C87 and C98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, even if that country has not formally ratified them. Before Korea joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2010, there was a “special monitoring process” on Korean workers’ rights from 1997 to 2006, and it had some positive effects including the legalisation of the KCTU. When Korea finally joined the OECD in 2010, it pledged to abide by the two key ILO workers’ rights conventions. And when the EU-Korea free trade agreement came into force in 2011, the same commitment was included in the agreement.
There is even a mechanism in that trade agreement that is supposed to address any breaches of the commitment – the EU-Korea Domestic Advisory Group, on which the ETUC is represented, along with European employers. The ILO does of course have supervisory mechanisms of its own – the Committee of Experts and the tripartite Committee on Freedom of Association, both of which have criticised Korea for abuses of worker’ rights. These bodies can only issue reports, but the European Commission could impose trade sanctions on Korea for egregious breaches: a stage which we must have reached, if only the European Commission and the member governments of the European Union were serious about workers’ fundamental rights. The EU-Korea DAG, currently being reconstituted, has protested in the past about Korea’s broken promises, but the European Commission has taken no concrete action on the complaint. The OECD, likewise, has done nothing about Korea’s broken promises.
This is why trade unions are no longer convinced that unenforceable labour chapters in trade agreements (like CETA or TTIP) will have any effect, and why trade unions are now insisting that countries seeking to join the OECD like Colombia, or even the EU, like Turkey, should demonstrate their compliance with core labour standards before being allowed to join, not just make idle promises. Attempts by the OECD to bring about worker rights improvements in Colombia as part of the Accession process are unconvincing – once a country is in the OECD and the monitoring stops, the countries can revert to the bad old ways.
KCTU President Han recently said:

“Today, the government and the police have trampled on the rights of the KCTU and workers in Korea. The anti-democratic, anti-worker policies of the Park Geun-hye government roused the indignation of the working people. We will broaden worker solidarity and fight to stop the regressive labour reform bill which will make it easier for employers to dismiss workers, cut wages and create more precarious employment. These reforms will not create the jobs the government promises but only ensure that all jobs are insecure and poorly-paid.”

S. Korean Police Searches KCTU Offices

Pyongyang, November 25 (KCNA) -- The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency hurled more than 370 policemen into operations for searching offices of the headquarters of the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, progressive labor movement organization, and its affiliated bodies on November 21, according to the south Korean CBS and MBC.
    The fascist policemen stormed at least ten offices of the KCTU headquarters and eight trade unions including the Metal Workers Trade Union and Builders Trade Union and conducted the search operation early in the morning under the pretext of seeking "evidence proving the spearheading of the violent demonstration."
    The KCTU held a press conference outside Sodaemun Police Station in Seoul at which it declared that the police's search is like the guilty party filing the suit first.
    The assailant's suppression of the victim would spark strong uproar among the people, the KCTU warned. -0-