RETURN TO MAIN TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cool Dolphin Award of Excellence:
RoyceArt, Australia (NR)
Some of the awards this site has received. To view our awards, go to
Awards
.
Korean Protests:
APRIL 2005:
Civic Groups at Crossroads The following article appeared in the Korea Times on 11 Apr 2005.
Civic Groups Stand at Crossroads
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter
Local civic groups, which have played a pivotal role in changing and reforming Korean society since the early 90s, are now at a turning point themselves, facing increasing calls for their own changes.
Choi Yul, former chairman of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, one of the most influential environmental civic groups here, resigned from his post on March 2, almost two months after local broadcaster KBS reported on Jan. 10 that he requested companies, such as the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, to buy their products. The civic group was supposed to monitor the companies that were potentially environmentally hazardous.
The report shocked many South Koreans, who have cherished a clean and corruption-free image of civic groups, especially major ones.
Another civic group leader, Song Young-ock, who even received a medal of honor from the Ministry of Gender Equality for her contribution to victims of child abuse, was sentenced to one year of imprisonment for not paying back 30 million won ($30,000), which she borrowed from the parents of one of the child victims, last month.
The court ruling said Song had not shown any willingness to return the money, but threatened the victim many times.
Recently, environmental civic groups have showed their strong influence by temporarily halting two major construction projects, which include the Saemangum reclamation project on the west coast of North Cholla Province and a tunnel construction at Mt. Chonsong, which is known for provoking the 100-day fast of Buddhist Nun Chiyul.
In addition, some critics say another influential civic group Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice played an important role in the resignation of Lee Hun-jai, deputy prime minister and finance-economy minister, who stepped down over the controversy surrounding his wife's alleged real estate speculation.
With the increased power of local civic groups, concerns have been raised by conservative groups about the lack of measures to hold them in check.
The so-called ``New Right Movement,’’ a coalition of conservative civic groups trying to distinguish themselves from previous corrupted images of adhering excessively to traditional customs, have begun a battle to denounce reform-minded civic groups.
``Korean civic groups have turned into a Goliath and have lost their previous image as a David. They have to be mature enough to accept criticism over their malpractices and calls for the reform of their own organization,’’ said Prof. Park Hyo-chong of Seoul National University in a symposium organized by a conservative group, the Citizens United for a Better Society, downtown Seoul on March 10.
Park claimed power-wielding civic groups set their own moral standards and indiscriminately punish those who do not follow their rules and guidelines on future policies.
Another presenter Kwon Hyuk-cheol, researcher of the Center for Free Enterprise, claimed civic groups should improve their professional knowledge, political neutrality, financial independence from the government support and legal decision-making procedures.
He also called on reform-minded activists to show a clear attitude toward the human rights and nuclear weapon issues of North Korea.
However, many liberal non-governmental organization experts and activists are not willing to fully agree with such criticism. ``It’s already been four or five years since civic groups started to study for their own reform in order to adopt a new role in the fast-changing society,’’ Yun Sun-chul of the Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice said.
Proving Yun’s remark, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the nation’s biggest civic group, has started to break apart their giant organization into five smaller groups in February as they have felt the need to focus on more detailed issues with more slim organizations. The specialization of each group will be completed by 2010.
In contrast to criticism from the conservative point of view, which mostly focuses on the power and size of a few major civic groups, internal members point out the low income and sense of loss that civic group activists face.
``We should think about the unstable job security that activists have. Civic groups have grown in size and power thanks to each activist’s voluntary participation and sacrifice,’’ Prof. Cha Myong-jae of Sungkonghoe University in Seoul said.
``It varies, but the highest salary for activists of civic groups is around 1.3 million won per month, which is less than half of what a college graduate bank clerk makes,’’ an activist said on condition of anonymity. ``The poor conditions makes it difficult for ordinary citizens to participate in civic groups,’’ he added.
Cha also said the current financial support from the government should continue as civic groups in advanced countries such as the Netherlands and Britain receive around 40 to 50 percent of their budget from their national treasury.
USFK Workers Threaten to Strike over Layoffs According to Yonhap News on 3 Apr 05 unionized ROK workers at U.S. military bases threatened Saturday to launch a full strike, if Washington does not withdraw its decision to lay-off 10 percent of the local workforce. "We will fight to the last man," said Kang In-shik, head of the Korean Employees Union. Kang said his union cannot accept the massive U.S. layoff plan prompted by South Korea's lack of funding, as U.S. forces will still continue their operations here.
(NOTE: According to the USFK Website, Yongsan Garrison, Seoul,4 April, 2005-Yonhap Korean language news bureau issued a story a little while ago regarding comments allegedly made by COL Ivey, a USFK representative, in a meeting with KEU's president, Mr Kang. We issue the following statement regarding that story and what they claim the colonel said. This is a complete misrepresentation of what was said in the meeting. COL Ivey did not make these types of comments. The union president, Mr Kang, also has stated that this reporting is not true. It is unfortunate that reporters would resort to careless report on this very important topic.)
15,000 South Koreans are currently hired by the U.S. military but 12,000 of them are paid by the Seoul government under a cost-sharing program. Even the ROK union expects the USFK to pick up the tab for the workers that the ROK does not want to pay for. "I believe Campbell's statement was made strategically. It was aimed at fostering public opinion that the Korean government is responsible for the employment (of Korean workers in the U.S. military) and therefore applying pressure on the Korean government," Kang said.
NGO Activist group "Solidarity for Peace and Unification of Korea" protest at Yongsan over cutbacks
Later the leader of the union was talking more reasonably. In the Korea Times, Kang In-shik was reported as saying, ``Actually, the Seoul government is more responsibile for the workforce reduction than the U.S.,'' Kang told The Korea Times. ``Before and during the talks with the U.S., the government should have fully prepared for Washington's expected negotiation cards, including the job security issue, and consulted us.'' The 13,000-member union sent protest letters last Saturday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Labor and the Defense Ministry asking the government to renegotiate the cost-sharing issue to secure their employment, he said. Kang urged the government to set aside a reasonable amount of financial contributions to maintain U.S. troops in South Korea to avoid compromising the 50-year-old South Korea-U.S. military alliance. The government, however, made it clear that no further negotiations will be held regarding the defense cost-sharing.
Protest at Camp Humphries (10 Apr 2005) NGO Activist groups -- mainly student groups -- supporting the farmer's land dispute marched on Camp Humphries. The march was preceded by a rally to rouse up the marchers. Normally the Unification groups have a strong presence, but their trademark baby-blue colored placards and blue Unification Korea flags were noticably absent from this protest. The march was relatively peaceful with a little bit of shoving and pushing with the riot police. No public word on this protest appeared in the internet -- mainly because it was boringly dull.
NGO Activist groups march on Camp Humphries (10 Apr 2005)
Go to USFK: Camp Humphreys for details of the protest which extended into 2006 until final resolution by the ROK government in 2007.
Return to Top
For comments or inputs, contact:
Kalani O'Sullivan
.
NOTICE/DISCLAIMER: The content of this page is UNOFFICIAL and the views and
opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of anyone associated with
this page or any of those linked from this site. All opinions are those of the
writer and are intended for entertainment purposes only. Links to other web
pages are provided for convenience and do not, in any way, constitute an
endorsement of the linked pages or any commercial or private issues or products
presented there. Neither the DOD, the Air Force, the 8th Fighter Wing nor
Mickey Mouse
has endorsed any of this site. All Air Force links are publicly accessible
through the worldwide web. If there is any discrepancy between eye-witness
accounts and OFFICIAL DOD records, this site opts to lend credence to the
eye-witness views.
 |
