Political action of the working class under President Roh Moo-hyun

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Trade union victory in South Korea: release of union leader Dan Byung-Ho
ICFTU Online, 3 April 2003. ICFTU welcomes the release, after 20 months’ imprisonment, of Dan Byung-Ho, President of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). In March 2002, Dan Byung-Ho had assumed responsibility for the KCTU’s coordination of a general strike: he had appeared in court and had been sentenced for obstructing business.
Strikers protest police breaking up demos
By Kim Kyung-ho, The Korea Herald, 1 July 2003. Members of the nation’s two major labor umbrella groups staged massive rallies in Seoul yesterday to protest the government’s use of police force to break up sit-ins by striking railway workers. Demands included a cut in regular working hours, the abolition of a plan to set up special economic zones and scrapping the planned sale of the state-owned Chohung Bank to a private lender.
Teacher union group seeks to visit North
JoongAng Ilbo, 14 July 2003. One hundred thirty members of the Korea Teachers and Educational Workers Union plan to make a five-day visit to North Korea on July 29 at the invitation of North Korea’s teachers organization. We will contribute to reconciliation and peace on the Korean Peninsula. But a possible snag may be that the union’s president, Won Young-man, is on the wanted list, charged with leading an illegal job action last month.
Employers to Be Discouraged From Taking Legal Action Against Unions
By Soh Ji-young, The Korea Times, 29 October 2003. The government pledged to draft legislation preventing employers from abusing their right to file compensation suits against unionists for damages from illegal strikes. The comees after labor unions vowed to launch a general strike next month to protest pro-employer labor policies that they claim have led to a string of suicide attempts by union members.
Worker suicides lead to massive street battles
By Deirdre Griswold, Workers World, 29 November 2003. South Korean workers are telling the world in the most unmistakable way that their conditions of life and work are intolerable. They flooded the streets of downtown Seoul on Nov. 9 in a demonstration of 40,000 union members against repressive labor legislation. And when they were attacked by police, they responded with hand-to-hand combat and even molotov cocktails.