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Top issues of struggle in Korea, 2000

- Daewoo collapses to trans-national capital
- Inhabitants of Maehyang-Ri rise up against U.S. Military Presence
- Opposition to Privatization
- Struggle of the Temporary Workers
- Gay and Lesbian Rights
- 100 Women's Committee for the uprooting of sexual harassment within the progressive sector
- Anti-Globalization Struggle at the ASEM

-Daewoo Collapses to Global Capital

The collapse of Daewoo shows just what happens when a big national capital falls into the hands of global capital. Some commented that the fall of Daewoo was inevitable, some welcomed the collapse as a successful result of restructuring - one less company to share the market with. But the fall of Daewoo had enormous consequences for workers. Daewoo announced on 8th November, along with declaration of bankruptcy, that they will have to cut 3,500 jobs. Tens of thousands of workers fought hard all through November, fighting to protect their rights as workers, condemning the corrupt management which eventually brought the company down and denouncing the Kim Dae-Jung government which propagandize neo-liberalism as a remedy for the economy. Unfortunately, on 27th November, the Daewoo union gave into the threats that all workers will end up jobless if the union does not accept the cuts, and signed an agreement to form a joint committee with the management. But that will not stop the workers in their determination to fight for what they really believe. New developments have come up, as management announced a week ago that it would lay off close to 2000 workers. The Daewoo union retaliated, immediately going on strike, and the government intervened a few days later by sending riot police to break up the strike. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has announced that it can no longer tolerate the oppressive actions by the government and has initiated an all-out government strike, holding daily rallies. Just 2 days ago, 2000 protestors burned two police trucks and threw rocks at riot police in the streets of Bu-Pyung, vowing that the struggle would not cease unless the layoffs were withdrawn, and the management and government were ready for sincere talks with the workers.

- The Rise of the Maehyang-ri Inhabitants

Year 2000 was indeed a year to remember for the Maehyang-ri inhabitants. After decades of bombing drills, pollution and exploitation by the US military, the villagers decided that enough was enough. Maehyang-ri is a small village located in the Kyeongido province just north of Seoul. There, the US military had set up their Kooni Range where they constantly spill bombs, forcing the inhabitants to live in constant fear less they are injured, which often does happen. And it is not just fear that they have to put up with - the inhabitants have to pay rent for the use of what used to be their own land and soil. It was also just during last year the villagers learned that the management of the Range had been turned over to Lockheed Martin, one of the largest private weapons company. There are also suspicions that the company uses Maehyang-ri to test its deadly weapons. The inhabitants, students and other organizations formed the 'National Action Committee for the Closure of the Maehyang-ri U.S. Armed Forces International Bombing Range' and fought throughout the whole year. The
International Common Cyber Demonstration on 21st September and the International Common Day of Action on September 23rd were just a few examples of the struggles.....and it carries on until this very minute. National Action Committee : http://maehyang.jinbo.net/eng/

- The struggle of the Temporary Workers

With the percentage of temporary workers rising sharply after the IMF crisis 3 years ago, the issue of discrimination against temporary workers, and the increasing division between temporary workers and regular workers has become one of the most vital issues within the progressive sector in Korea. Recent studies have shown that temporary workers now take up more than half of the total working class in Korea. Suffering from low wages, job insecurity, and almost no benefits despite doing the same job for the same amount of time as regular workers, these workers have just recently started to voice their demands here in Korea. For fair and just compensation for their work, for more job security, for more benefits, for equal treatment with regular workers, and ultimately for the abolition of the temporary worker system. The struggle of the temporary workers did not cease during the last year. From the Lotte Hotel Workers month long strike during the summer, to the E-land strike still on going, and the struggle by the Korea Telecom temporary workers against unjust lay-offs. It remains an uphill battle however, as capital and management do not want to give up the profits gained from cutting wages and benefits, as well as the added freedom for lay offs that the temporary worker system allows. The unwillingness from the traditional trade unions, representing mostly regular workers, to actively support the cause of the irregular workers, as shown in the case of the Korea Telecom union, is also hindering progress.
The temporary worker system is an issue that lies at the center of the neo-liberal restructuring drive the world over. It has resulted in the deterioration of living standards and the deprivation of basic labor rights that have been attained by many years of struggles against brutal oppression. It also epitomizes all that is wrong with the direction which globalization is taking: in which the majority of the people are forced to give up more and more in the 'race towards the bottom' in the name of 'competitiveness' and 'a flexible labor market' to 'survive in the age of globalization.' It is one of the major obstacles the people's movement needs to overcome in building a united front against the attack of the neo-liberal capital and in coming up with alternative social models. This is why it is important that all those opposed to neo-liberal globalization support the struggle of the temporary workers.

- Opposition to Privatization

As part of the standardized plan of the neo-liberal re-structuring plan that has been put into practice the world over, the Korean government has also been pushing forward with plans for privatization of the public sector, despite criticism that it would result in the rise in prices of basic social necessities and eliminate the social safety net for the socially oppressed.
The two biggest public corporations in Korea, the Korea Electric Power Corporation(KEPCO) and Korea Telecom, providing two of the most important public services to the Korean public, each put up resistance to such plans in the form of strikes. However, the products of the struggle were largely fruitless. The leadership of the KEPCO union withdrew plans for a all-out strike in exchange for higher wages and more benefits after a few partial strikes, selling off public interest in the process by agreeing to the privatization and foreign sale of the enterprise. The Korea Telecom union did go on a full strike for 5 days in December, securing certain important gains for the regular workers at the company such as delaying of privatization plans and job security for regular workers. However, plans for privatization remain in place and more importantly the union turned its back on the struggle by the temporary workers, numbering 10,000 and on strike since early December, by concentrating on the interests of the regular workers during negotiations with management. As a result, 7000 workers have had their contracts terminated and are now without jobs.
It has been hard to gain wide spread public support for the actions against privatization, for public corporations in Korea have long been considered corrupt and inefficient. However, it must be remembered that privatization is not the only way to solving such problems, and that other alternatives(such as the participation of workers and civic organizations in supervising the running of the company and management of funds) should be sought to truly make such enterprises 'public.' We also see signs that the fight may not be over, as the electrical shortage in California has led many in Korea to question whether privatization of KEPCO is the answer to its problems. There are tensions in the union also, criticizing the decision of the previous leadership and calling for actions against the government to stop privatization. The tensions are sure to continue far into 2001.

- Gay and Lesbian Rights

Hong Suk-Chun, a Korean actor who has been subject to discrimination such as being denied appearances on television shows after announcing his homosexuality, shows that the Korean society can no longer keep evading this issue. After the 'coming out' of Hong, 13 civic society organizations such as the Sarangbang for Human Rights and Solidarity for Gay and Lesbian Rights, held a press conference and proclaimed that 'the human rights of gays and lesbians is a right that the National Assembly must protect.' The 'Group Supporting the Coming Out of Hong Suck Chun' was also formed and has been actively involved with the 'Coming Out 2000 Campaign' for the protection of gay and lesbian rights. This organization has declared that 'the coming out of Hong is a common decision of someone who seeks to be happy and is the reconciliation with one's truth, which is the result of affirming his dignity through mature conduct,' and that 'this issue is an important step in progressing towards a democray in which an individual's freedom and liberty are respected.'
Every human being is entitled to their sexual identity, and living by that identity is the very basic premise to a human existence. If gays and lesbians are discriminated against because of their sexual identity, or have to hide their sexual identity because of social prejudice, this would be the equivalent of forcing them to give up their existence as a 'human being.' True democracy starts from respecting and guaranteeing the rights of the few, not from control by the majority. This is because every human being is entitled to the right live by their conscience and principles. Such thoughts and principles may differ from person to person, but because of social and cultural pressure, the majority tend to share similar thoughts. However,
this also leads to a minority which disagrees with these principles and thoughts. The only society without such minorities is the totalitarian one. If each human being is to live by their own perception of what the truth is, then the opinions and actions of 'other' minorities must be culturally and socially protected. Why must we always try to establish that the majority is right?

- 100 Women's Committee for the Uprooting of Sexual Harassment within the Progressive Sector

The year 2000 was a year when a new movement surfaced within the Korean women's movement. The problems of sexual discrimination and harassment within the progressive sector had been raised before but the year 2000 was one in which full scale criticism of the problems which patriarchy within the progressive sector had caused was raised. Perhaps the most important event in this movement was the revealing of the offenders of sexual harassment by a group of women activists within the progressive sector named the 100 women's committee for the uprooting of sexual harassment within the progressive sector. They have stated the reason for organizing this movement as follows.
"The 100 women's committee for the uprooting of sexual harassment within the progressive sector is revealing cases of sexual harassment within the progressive sector. Through revealing the name of the offender, we seek to inform others of the reality of sexual harassment, which has until know been suppressed, and to prevent recurrences of such cases. The same as society in general, the progressive sector is not free from the capitalist patriarchal ideology. We do not demand flawlessness. We only hope that, if the aim of the progressive sector is to overcome the structure and ideology of previous society towards true liberation and freedom, we be able to realize such aims within ourselves."
Going beyond the solution of cases, the 100 Womens' Committee is involved in a defensive struggle, based on their identity as potential victims of sexual harassment. Therefore, the revealing of the names of offenders is only the beginning of the solution to the cases, not the completion. The direction of the discussions on this movement reveal the deeply rooted patriarchy within the Korean progressive sector. Support for the offenders on the grounds that offenders have rights, the 'objective party' who assert that sexual harassment cannot be established on the testimony of the victim alone(In reality, hasn't objectiveness and neutrality meant the patriarchal principles of society? Feminists have stressed that this assertion does not recognize the deep differences in views and experiences deriving from sexual discrimination between men and women), and the attempts to reduce the boundaries of sexual harassment in the name of free sex: such discussions have continued.
Whether the progressive sector in Korea will be able to move from 'half way progressive' towards a complete progressiveness through this movement remains to be seen.

Anti-Asem Struggle - Significance and Limitations

A group mainly consisting of civic organizations, under the perception that the ASEM was different from other international organizations such as APEC, IMF, and the WTO, concentrated their efforts on democratizing the ASEM by urging it to accept the people's demands. On the opposite end, the group organized by the left in Korea, which had consistently opposed globalization, asserted that, with talks and plans for further trade liberalization, free trade zones and attraction of foreign direct investment included in its agenda, the ASEM could only further neo-liberal globalization and that total opposition(not critical intervention) was needed. The latter organized the Seoul Day of Action against Globalization and the two groups jointly participated in the struggle despite differences in opinions, due to the ambiguous position of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
"From Seattle to Prague, to Seoul," this was the name of the culture festival which was organized by the group preparing the Seoul Day of Action Against Globalization. This name suggests a continuity between the Seoul event and the anti-globalization actions that went on in Seattle, Washington, Davos and Melbourne. There has been positive evaluation from a portion of the participants that the Seoul Day of Action was a valuable experience which allowed for the people of Korea to learn more about the international people's movement, to recognize that neo-liberal globalization and neo-liberal restructuring were not separate entities, and become aware that the issues raised at Seattle and Prague were directly related to the people of Korea. However, critical views of the actions exist also. If the Anti-Asem struggle can be considered a continuation of the anti-globalization struggle, what exactly was 'continued' in the actions in Seoul, and what changes or severances(if any) were intended? Simply shouting the same slogans does not constitute a 'continuation.' What drew attention to the struggles in Seattle and Prague was the autonomy and spontaneity of the diverse networks which organized and participated in these direct actions. It must be remembered that the international solidarity between these diverse networks was the biggest distinguishing factor and strength of this movement. In comparison, the October anti-ASEM struggle was one which followed in the steps of the vertical 'chain of command' formula, prevalent in the Korean people's movement. This drew criticism that the O20 struggle relied too much on the images(mass struggle, violent actions and police suppression, direct action, world-wide attention, blockading of conference site) of Seattle and Prague, and in the process, prodeced a 'bubble.' Buton the other hand, it has been pointed out that mass people's movements(Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, National Farmers League, National Association of the Poor) recognizing the problems of neo-liberal globalization and participating in the proeparations for direct actions against it from the start, is an important product of the anti-ASEM struggle.
There needs to be more serious evaluations on the ASEM struggle, on the basis of these differences. This is because the October anti-ASEM struggle does not signify the end of the struggle against neo-liberal globalization in Korea, but rather the start.