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Close to 200 labor student and social movement activists were injured as violent clashes took place with riot police during the march after the National Worker's Rally at a park located in the northern part of Seoul. Recent political and economic conditions in Korea have made the retaliation of the workers and socially oppressed inevitable. Workers, furious at the recent moves by the government, including the undemocratic/incompetent way
they dealt with the Daewoo Motors situation(which has recently resulted in its bankruptcy and will result in thousands losing their jobs), and the closure of many major construction corporations without the measures necessary to protect the livelihood of the workers who will lose their jobs, came to the rally armed and ready for police intervention. As the police blocked the peaceful march at a major intersection the workers retaliated, battling the police at several barricades. Many activists were injured as police beat down on the protestors with clubs. Several bystanders were also hurt in the process, as police indiscriminately attacked people on the side walks. The clashes continued late into the night, until the protestors dispersed at about 8 p.m.

The leadership of the KCTU, which organized this rally, vowed that the struggle would not stop, hinting at a possible general strike in the near future. President Dan Byung Ho remarked in his address that, "the government must stop forcing the uni-lateral sacrifice of the workers.' The major demands of the KCTU for this struggle were: an immediate stop to the plans for the retrogressive revision of the Labor Law, the reduction of working
hours(5 day work week) across all industries without deterioration of working
conditions, an immediate stop to the uni-lateral structural adjustment programs, and the abolishment of discrimination between full-time workers and temporary workers.

The anger of the workers at the rally were the result of three years of ruthless uni-lateral re-structuring which has resulted in the increasing dependency on foreign economies and international trends, increasing economic instability, lay-offs, unstable jobs, rise in unemployment, the polarization of wealth, and the dismantling of social unity, among many others: an overall and dramatic decrease in the standards of living for the people of Korea.

Despite the voices of the people all across the world and in Korea against the free trade order and neo-liberalism, the Kim Dae-Jung government seeks to push ahead with the second stage of the structural adjustment program, while announcing plans for further privatization of the public sector. However, recent trends within the Korean labor movement suggest that these plans will encounter stiff resistance from the progressive sector of Korea, which has
been engaged in a constant battle for the last 3 years ever since the IMF crisis in defense of basic labor rights and the livelihood of the people. The KCTU and the more conservative Federation of Korean Trade Unions(FKTU) have announced, in a rare showing of solidarity, that they will struggle together against the government's plans for privatization of the public sector. They have already held a joint rally in which more than 50,000 workers from both unions took place. Another one will be held later this month. Both umbrella unions are planning general strikes later in the year. We are keeping a close watch on the events which are unfolding, among them the Korea Electric Power Corporation(KEPCO) strike which is expected to begin on the 24th of November. We will keep you updated.