Thousands threaten ‘general strike’ in South Korea

Compiled by Nicholas Holt

June 13— On Tuesday police stormed a high-rise tower and arrested 8 protesters to end a week-long sit-in by unionists at a chemical factory in the southern industrial city of Ulsan. The unionists had occupied the tower for a week, defying 3,600 riot police who stormed the factory then to end a larger strike.

Also on Tuesday, striking workers at South Korea’s two main airlines grounded hundreds of flights as part of a nationwide work stoppage. The strike is the most dramatic in Korean aviation history.

The walkouts were called by the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which stated that 55,000 workers at 125 workplaces had struck, though the Labor Ministry claimed that the strike involved only 15,000 workers and that disputes at many work sites were resolved in last-minute negotiations.

South Korea’s metal and chemical industries were the next hardest hit by the strike, which organizers say is indefinite.

Thousands of striking workers marched through Seoul on Tuesday, chanting “Down with President Kim Dae-jung’s government”, but no violence was reported.

Wage hikes were a key issue, and workers want the work week shortened from 44 hours to 40 hours, with no reduction in pay.

Workers were also resisiting government-initiated economic restructuring that they believe has resulted in huge layoffs. The government reforms entail consolidation and trimming of costs in various industries, sales of key companies to foreign owners and a more market-oriented approach in general, moves that in the short run mean layoffs and a reduction in union clout.

South Korea is still recovering from the 1997 financial crisis, which forced the country to accept a $58.35 billion rescue package arranged by the International Monetary Fund.

On Wednesday, thousands of hospital workers in South Korea joined airline and manufacturing workers in a second day of strikes. Essential staff continued to operate in emergency and delivery rooms and intensive care units, organizers said. Hundreds of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines flights remained grounded.

The government, under pressure from economists and foreign investors to keep its reforms on course, vowed a stern response to the strikes, which it claims are illegal. Prime Minister Lee Han-Dong called on security authorities to launch a crackdown on strike organizers.

Strike organizers said 10,000 nurses, clerks and utility workers at 50 general hospitals in Seoul and elsewhere were scheduled to join the nationwide strike by June 20.

Tensions have been mounting since a violent police crackdown in April against protests by workers laid off by the bankrupt Daewoo Motor Company, which is seeking a takeover by General Motors Corp. Violent demonstrations in South Korea have grown sharply this year, as unionized workers, whose political influence has waned under Kim’s reform drive after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, seek to exploit his final 18 months in office.

Sources: AFP, Associated Press, Reuters, BBC News, Asia Times, Asia Pulse