[asia-apec 327] Strike Urgent Report #15

[amc]

                                    Strike Urgent Report #15 
                            - edited on January. 17, 1997, at 01:00 
                       FIRST day of the General Strike in THE THIRD WAVE 

The Greatest Demonstration All Over The Country!
     Yesterday, January 15, over 200,000 people including laborers, students
and citizens poured out 
     and overspreaded the streets in 15 cities inclusive of Seoul,Pusan,
Kwangju, Daeku and others, 
     crying out the slogan "retraction or the detrimental revisions of labor
law and National Security 
     Planning Agency act". They held rallies by regions and marched through
the streets with flags 
     and banners to demonstrate against the evil laws. In some regions like
Seoul, as riot police fired 
     tear gas on demonstrators, ordinary citizens who kept watched over the
sights hooted the violent 
     police. The nationalwide rallies of this day is the largest from the
past 'June- struggle' in 1987.
     
     The KCTU, however, said on the same day that the overall and indefinite
strikes of public 
     sectors including subway, hospital, cargo would go on until 15 and
16th, and be converted into 
     partial strikes after that. They decided to control the level of
strikes with the consideration of 
     public opinion, the confrontation of government and others. They also
warned that "in case that 
     the government authorities commit police force to the Myongdong
Cathedral, we'll again launch 
     overall general strikes".
     The Federation of Korean Trade Unions(FKTU) held a great rally of
laborers at Yoido Plaza in 
     Seoul. At that rally, Park In-sang, president of the FKTU said " the
FKTU will fight to the day 
     that the evil laws are nullified", insisting that "we will go on
struggles to the time of 
     Presidential election". The FKTU finished the general strike of the
second phase and plan to start 
     political struggles that can be given by people's supports.
Government to Try All Means to End Strikes ; Massive Strike Leaders Imminent
     The government yesterday held a special cabinet meeting of labor-
related ministers and decided 
     to seek "every possible means" for an early settlement of labor unrest.
     During the meeting presided over by Prime Minister Lee Soo- sung in the
morning, the ministers 
     agreed that the situation has now reached an intolerable level. As the
collective actions of union 
     members have been prolonged and are spreading to the public sector,
they are inconveniencing 
     the public and damaging the national economy, they said. 
     The ministers also shared the view that "stern and swift legal actions
are necessary to bring the 
     current labor unrest to an end," said the Prime Minister's Office after
the meeting. The office 
     added that the ministers said the ongoing labor strikes have been
turning from political struggles 
     to ideological ones and have decided to seek measures to cope with the
situation. The 
     participants reaffirmed the government's position that the arrest of
union leaders who are leading 
     the illegal strikes should not be delayed further -even considering the
repercussions. 
     After the cabinet meeting, the prosecution sent a tough warning to
unions that the use of police 
     force is imminent to arrest leaders of the labor strikes. Prosecutor
Choi Byong-kuk, head of the 
     Public Security Department warned unless union leaders stop the
"illegal" strikes immediately, 
     they will be dealt with in a "stern and resolute" manner. Though he
didn't detail when and how 
     legal actions will be taken, the senior prosecutor strongly implied
that his warning was the 
     ultimatum before the use of force. 
     In the statement read in a press conference, senior prosecutor Choi
said the strike has become a 
     "serious threat" to the nation's security. "In recent days, North Korea
has increasingly made an ill 
     use of the labor crisis by instigating workers to enter even longer
strikes," he said.



     Published by the Telecommunication Taskgroup for General Strike (TTGS)
     Distributed through Online BBS Service and Internet twice a day
     Phone : +82-2-855-1913
     E-mail : rys at member.sing-kr.org
     Homepage : http://kpd.sing-kr.org/strike