Ssangyong news, KTU in trouble and media union news...

Thursday, the leaders of the striking union at the Ssangyong factory have reopened talks with the management on ending the strike. This is probably going to be the last time the two sides will talk before courts might liquidate the company completely in mid August. So far the management has offered to cut back on layoffs and reassign some people to other jobs, rehire most of the workforce by 2012 slowly and help find jobs for other works. The Union has refused and has demanded that the company send 2/3rd on "unpaid leave" so that they will face lesser job cuts. Either way, the Union has seem to have won some major victories for the workers (when originally around 900 were being laidoff). How far they will take it is up to them.

In other news, the Ministry of Education is planning to sack 89 teachers, including the leader Korean Teachers and Education Union (KTU) Jung Jin-hoo, for their collective action in signing a joint declaration against government policies on July 19th. There are strict laws against civil servants from doing collective actions in Korea and this is just an example of this. It doesn't help that KTU is well known as one of the most militant and left wing unions south of the 38th parallel.

Finally, the courts in Seoul have told the police that they cannot hold Choi Sang-jae, leader National Union of Media Workers, anymore. Choi was arrested earlier this week for illegal strikes and trying to break into the National Assembly. The court ruled that there was no risk for him fleeing the area or destroying evidence, so there was no need to hold him captive any longer.

Article on transgender model in Korea...

First, the Chosun Ilbo (of all sources) has an article on a transgender women named Choi Han-bit. Choi Han-bit is the first transgender woman to compete in the Super Model Contest.

a telephone interview with the Chosun Ilbo on Wednesday, she said, "I dreamt of becoming a model from when I was very young. The message on the screen of my cell phone reads, 'I am a model,' and after the operation I started preparing to become one. I thought it was a dream that could never come true, but I'm very happy about where I stand at the moment."

Her biggest supporters have been her parents. When Choi decided to undergo gender reassignment surgery, they encouraged her, saying it is better to live with confidence than to hide from your nature and end up with regrets. "When I called my parents after the contest, they told me I did very well but I should stay humble as bigger obstacles are yet to come," she said.

Good luck Choi Han-bit! Miss Choi is not the first transgender woman to make major pop media news, Harisu of course came out in 2001 and has always been very open about her past.

Independent unions recieve higher wages then others...

According to a study by the JoongAng Daily and Labor Ministry.

The wage growth rate in workplaces with independent laborers was between 5.2 and 6.8 percent during a three-year period. Unionized workers under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions saw the rate of growth decrease from 4.5 to 3.9 percent while unionists affiliated to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions saw a rate growth of 4.5 to 4.7 percent. In the first half of this year, wage growth in workplaces with no unionized laborers was 2 percent. Wage growth for unionists under the FKTU, independent workers and members under KCTU were 0.9, 0.8 and 0.5 percent, respectively.

I should say I am not really shocked; from most of the talk I have heard from these independent unions have been mostly focused on increasing their economic standing. Of course such narrow focus creates a giant misconception on the purpose of unions. Korean workers do not just fight for high wages (though that is a common demand). Many disputes have came over the issue of layoffs, fringe benefits, seniority vs performance wages, working conditions, temporary/irregular workers and control of their workplace.

However, each Simpac worker received incentives worth 10 million won ($8,090) and company shares at the end of last year due to increased profits since unionists withdrew from the KCTU in January of last year. It was the first incentive in 10 years. Nam Ho-ki, 48, who has worked at the firm for 22 years, said workers once received nothing despite past profits. He said employees now believe there will be compensation if they work hard.

“While the company suffered from a deficit in the first half of this year due to the economic downturn, unionized workers first suggested a wage freeze,” said Choi Jin-shik, chairman of Simpac. “The firm will do its upmost to run the business successfully so that management can offer workers incentives by the end of this year.”

Some said that changing characteristics of labor-management relations in Simpac are largely influenced by its labor union’s withdrawal of membership from the KCTU. All the unionists voted in favor of the withdrawal.

It sounds like business is starting to co-opt these independent unions by giving them economic benefits in exchange for cooperation. This is what Japan has done which was a major success in derailing the once militant Japanese workforce. From a management perspective (as well as a union bureaucrat) this is a good thing. And I'm pretty sure the unionized workforce is pretty happy.

The question is this, is this good for workers overall? No. What often happens in these type of agreements is that the management will give high economic incentives to its unionized workforce that represents a small portion of their total workforce. Management then makes this up by treating its non-unionized parts like crap outsourcing much of the work overseas and begin relying on temporary/irregular workers domestically. This is what happened in Japan; you got a well off labor aristocracy (as Lenin would have put it) while most of the employees suffer. For women and minorities (who make the majority of both overseas workers and irregular workers) this is bad.

Ssangyong status: "Like a refugee camp.."

Conditions for the occupiers at the Ssangyong occupation are horrific as they have been denied food and water for a week now.

"It was hard to breathe," he said. Many of them are exposed to dehydration as drinking water was drying up. Doctors estimated that 200 were injured.

"Six of them need an immediate surgery or medical care. Many have severe injuries, including broken ribs or joints incurred during clashes with riot police."

According to Baek, they are given one or two rice balls per day. "Toilets are in dismal condition as the water supply has been cut off."

Hundreds of protesters have complained of a lack of sleep, he said.

"They sleep just two or three hours a day as police helicopters above the building generate unbearable noise."

Lee Chang-geun, spokesman for the unionized protesters, said noise from helicopters and speakers installed nearby the building was adding to the terrible conditions. "We have no food, no water and no sleep."

The workers might also fate a suit for the damages the company has suffered during this occupation. Ssangyong is currently trying to get an injunction that will liquefy the company completely. Previous attempts to reach an agreement has failed due to the worker's demand of stopping all layoffs. Ssangyong will not talk to the workers until they drop this demand.

Article on sex and woman's rights in the DPRK...

Andrei Lankov, probably the biggest expert on the DPRK, wrote a great article on the changing image of sex and woman's rights in the DPRK.

In the North, this approach was soon taken to the extreme. From the late 1950s even the slightest references to sexual activity were purged from North Korean art. Only villains could be depicted as thinking about sex, while the positive heroes were always asexual. Divorce was made difficult, almost impossible.

It seems that the government control, along with the activities of the neighborhood watch groups, the infamous ``inminban,'' helped to maintain the officially endorsed standards of sexual behavior. The powerful few sometimes could have extra-marital affairs, but they were an exception.

I also know of some cases when women got pregnant from premarital sex ― like a female soldier who once ``did it'' with her boyfriend in the late 1970s.

But once she found out that she was pregnant, she knew she was in serious trouble: if discovered, a pregnancy would lead to a dishonorable discharge from the army, after which nobody would allow her to return to her family in privileged Pyongyang.

Suck it all you Marxist-Leninist who talk about how the DPRK "liberated" women. Despite early progressive reforms when it came to issue of women, the DPRK has historically made women nothing more then machines that produce revolutionary men. The fact that this is changing further shows that the DPRK population is not as "brainwashed" as people make it sound as well as the decline of the Stalinist state.

ROK airforce might change its KF-X program..

Quiet a few years ago, the ROK Air Force announced it was going to look into the development of a fifth generation stealth fighter (Along the lines of a F-22). To the surprise of few, they are going to change this program quiet a bit.

I was always doubtful of how feasible for the ROK to develop its own fighter. Very little has come since the programs announcement over 5 years ago, and the USA has had major problems with its fifth generation fighters. The F-35 can be potentially attractive due to the fact it can be used off small carriers (thus allow the ROK to expand its Navy) but that program has been ridden with problems ever since it was put into production. Maybe that F-15 Silent Eagle will find a bidder in the ROK pretty soon.

Ssangyong update and other news...

There have been several news updates the last couple days and I unfortunately do not have time to comment on all of them, so here is a quick summary:

-The union at the Ssangyong plant and the management are going to meet later today to discuss ending the current occupation.

-Former Director of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Kim Sang-wan, is going to jail for three years for trying to rape a female union member.

-So far 70 DP legislators have handed over letters of resignation to opposition leader Chung Sye-kun who has already announced his resignation in protest of the GNP ramming through the media reform bills. Opposition parties will also begin a 100-day street protest.

-Many of you have already probably heard of the recent verbal jabs the USA and DPRK have fired at each other at the last ASEAN Regional Forum summit. You might have also heard about that Christian activist that was executed in the DPRK recently. But did you hear about the newest act of defiance within DPRK's borders that is causing a giant crackdown? Korean dramas. Apparently they cannot resist the charms of Rain and Lee Young Ae.

-The ROK is officially the third biggest buyer of US arms behind Israel and Saudi Arabia.

-On July 20th, there was some confrontation between police and protesters. The protesters were forming a march in memory of the Yongsan incident.

KCTU calls a general strike..

After nearly months of waiting around and speaking big, the KCTU has finally called for a general strike in solidarity with the Ssangyong workers and in protest of the "MB (Myung-bak) Evil Bills" in the National Assembly on media reform and irregular workers. The strike is go on until only July 24th, so I question how effective they will be. The last General Strike came last spring during the candlelight protests.

The KCTU now also has a lovely photography of the Ssangyong Occupation here. Apparently scabs are also firing things from slingshots at the striking workers according to the KCTU.

It's official...

After months of controversy and strife, the Grand National Party (GNP) has finally rammed through the media reform bills. These bills will increase the amount of stock private groups an own from TV channels. The major fear that opposition parties and progressive groups have is that these TV stations will be bought out by the major corporations of Korea thus creating a oligarchy of television. It is safe to assume that the Cho-Joong-Dong (the three major conservative newspapers in Korea who dominate 58% of the newspaper market) will take out major stock and thus try to influence the news even further.

Though the bill passed the controversy is far from done. Representatives from the Democratic Party has threatened to resign en masse if this is pushed through and are trying to get an injunction to rule the vote illegal (It was voted on twice and you can only vote once on a bill). I do not know what exactly will happen if the Democratic Party resigned from the National Assembly or if an injunction will work. From my understanding of the Korean law system, this would go under the jurisdiction of the Korean Supreme Court.

Either way if there is one bright side to this event it is the fact that the GNP's reign of power is not going to be very long. This media reform was not exactly popular in the first place among the public, and caused Park Geun-hye (who endorsed these bills when she was GNP chairwoman) on procedural grounds (She didn't end up voting because she was blocked out). Then there is that whole media workers strike as well. The GNP, which did poorly at the last round of elections, is probably going to decline further with Park Geun-hye reaping the benefits.

I can now be found on google!

After a week, you can now find this blog on google by searching this website!

In celebration, here is a music video by a folk/spoken word Asian American queer duo called the Good Asian Drivers. They are currently on tour right now, and will be in Seattle next month at the NQAPIA Conference. Go to their official website for more information.

Thanks to angry asian man for pointing them out for me!

Raids on the Ssangyong plant have begun

Photo courtesy of the JoongAng Daily

Starting Monday, the Korean Police have begin to crack down on the Ssangyong occupation. Workers have fought back by setting up fiery barricades consisting of tires and vehicles and pelting riot police and scabs with slingshots. Two helicopters have begin firing tear gas into the plant. No serious injuries have been reported yet; police and management have been weary of using more confrontational methods in fear of destroying valuable machines and possibly causing another Yongsan type incident. So far there has been a mix of information of how large the police force is being used, with Al Jazeera, the KCTU and JoongAng Daily stating around 3,000 and the Chosun Ilbo stating around 1000.

So far, there have been 2 suicides in relation to the strike. One worker after trying to apply for early retirement and on Monday, a 28 year old wife of one of the striking workers.

After news came in that police had started to advance into the compound, another news came in that wife of KMWU Ssangyong Motors Branch policy director had committed suicide. She was the 28-year old mother of a baby just 8 months old and a four-year old, and was suffering stress and anxiety from receiving subpoenas and warrant for her husband’s arrest. Recently, company managers were known to have made visits to workers’ homes, where only wives and children are present, and threatened family members with imprisonment of their spouses and confiscation of their homes and assets to pay the company back damages claims for the strike. As the union warned several times, and as reality manifests, “dismissals are, in fact, murder”. The death of the unionist’s wife is, in fact, homicide committed by the management and government.

The Korean Metal Workers Union is not the only union in Korea fighting for its life right now; the National Union of Media Workers (NUMW) have begun a general strike against the Grand National Party's attempt to railroad their media "reform" bills that will allow private ownership of news channels. More on that later, until then, read this wonderful article by the JoongAng Daily (Who would reap the benefits of the new bills) on why this "illegal strike" is a bad idea. Meanwhile I will go off and read an article by the Wall Street Journal on why Hugo Chavez is the devil.

Korea Herald article on the KCTU...

In response to the news of the KT pulling out of the KCTU, the Korea Herald has written an article wondering if this is a sign that the KCTU needs to change its confrontational tactics.

Because of its hard-line stance, the confederation has been criticized frequently by the government, businesses and conservatives. Especially the current Lee Myung-bak administration has maintained its firm stance on violent labor demonstrations, refusing to negotiate with the KCTU.

I do not know if this is really a bad thing; the public has sided with the KCTU publicly on several issues (notably the temporary workers problem). Furthermore, the KCTU's militant style is what separates itself from the FKTU.

Experts predict more member unions distancing themselves from the KCTU's excessive political struggles will turn away from the confederation, possibly bringing about a domino effect on other members.

"The KT union's departure has a symbolic meaning," said Choi Young-ki, research fellow at the Gyeonggi Research Institute, "because it reveals the KCTU failed in setting a proper policy direction and controlling its affiliated unions."

"If it doesn't seek reform to meet the changed labor situation, such a large-scale secession of its members will be repeated," he added.

And what about the members who ARE militant and are against cooperating with management? The KCTU IS the militant progressive federation of Korea; changing that would make it essentially another FKTU.

I doubt the recent secessions are caused solely by controversy over the KCTU's militancy. The KCTU did not just become a militant federation over night; its reputation has been established for years. Korean Unions have been hurting for years; these recent departures from both the KCTU and the FKTU are just symptoms of this. These unions are probably trying to find a new way to improve their status; whether it requires increased militancy or business cooperation. Remember when the Change To Win Federation pulled out of the AFL-CIO? Despite all the talk of "reform," Change To Win essentially worked the same way as the AFL-CIO with even greater internal strife.

There is no question that the KCTU needs some reforms; bureaucracy and infighting has made it ineffective in Ssangyong and the rampant patriarchy in the federation needs to be destroyed. Changing the one thing that defines the KCTU though will not solve anything.

Ssangyong strike might become bloody soon..

Riot police are preparing to enter the Ssangyong plant and end the occupation. Time might be running out for the Ssangyong workers; more news and analysis when updates come in.

KT Union pulls out of the KCTU..

The KT Union, the union that represents workers for the KT telephone company and third largest union in the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), has voted to withdraw from the KCTU.

Other unions could follow suit as the KCTU has been accused of ``politically oriented'' labor campaigns rather than seeking ways to provide better welfare to its members, labor experts said.

. . .

KT said it will maintain political neutrality and concentrate on achieving better working conditions.

In other words, the KT wants to move away from the militant political unionism of the KCTU and go for a more "business" unionism along the lines of the AFL-CIO and Change-to-Win in the USA. The breakup has been mostly fueled by the KCTU's ongoing conflict with the Grand National Party over the issue of temporary workers and calls within the KCTU to go on a general strike in solidarity with the Ssangyong workers who have occupied their factory for nearly two months now. The KCTU has thrown around the idea that management was involved in the decision which would not be a shocking if true.

There have been rumors that the KT, along with other unions that have left the two main trade federations (Federation of Korean Trade Unions being the other), will form a third "moderate" trade federation as an alternative to the current situation. The KT has denied such rumors but it is quiet interesting to see if anything does come out of it.

For the KCTU this is just more bad news for the militant trade federation in Korea. Atleast sixteen other unions have seceded in recent months from the KCTU, leadership has been caught in another major sexual harassment scandal and the lack of action involving the Ssangyong strike has frustrated labor activists. It is a depressing time for those hoping for legitimate reform in the Korean labor situation.

Other news sources:
Dong-a Ilbo
JoongAn Daily

Speaking of which..

Korea Beat has an excellent translated article on a lesbian club in Hongdae by Chosun Weekly. In Seoul, there is numerous centers for our gay friends (Itaewon) but there seems to be no center for lesbians. Its nice to see that they are acknowledged to exist in mainstream Korean media though I wish the article focused less on the one-night stands and sexual escapades. What do you guys think?

*NOTE: According to the comments, the S Club is not a lesbian club. I cannot confirm this at this point*

Bigot Watch: David Staples and ANCC

All forms of bigotry should not be tolerated and should be taken on publicly. One of the goals of this blog is to try to point out acts of bigotry within our community and confront it. For our first installment, we shall focus on the All Nations Community Church and its recent sermon by David Staples called "Chauvinist or Feminist? Which is Jesus?" on July 17th, 2009.

ANCC is a Korean ethnic church that is the English ministry to the Onnuri Church (not affiliated with the Onnuri Church in Seoul). The church currently is part of the Southern Baptist Convention but was non-denominational for a long time before hand (the website does not even mention its connection). Like alot of Korean churches, there is a strong emphasis on piety and most sermons are based around Bible reading. Last week, they covered 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, a infamous text that can have sexist readings. I respect the ANCC for trying to cover this and their emphasis on biblical reading as part of sermons, but there are some major issues here. Fortunately, they have all their sermons online for you to listen to.

After discussing the problems the early Church was facing, David goes onto this little explanation around 9 minutes in...

They are being influenced by the Corinthian culture.. and with that came sin... one of the movements that was happening was a feminist movement. Females they were oppressed for a long time.. they still are oppressed today...

Does not seem to bad right now, and he argues that the Christian church actually lifted many women from oppression. After this, David begins talking about "God's view of women" which he does not bother to elaborate at this point (about 12 minutes in)..

Women though at this time begin to go on further... it wasn't just good enough to say men and women were equal.. they wanted to say women were better then men... they were allowing some of these feminists beliefs to rule over the church...

Oh boy, this is not looking good. Nevermind that there were many cults around this time who were claiming to be "Christian" were doing incredibly immoral things by any standard; or that there were numerous churches who had heterodox beliefs and often had their own canons that was a problem during the early days. Blame the feminists!

After a while, David makes these statement when describing the issue of women wearing coverings in Church 33 minutes in...

These women went so far to go and cut their hair off because they wanted to look like a guy... you know what these women did? These women were lesbians...

Oh boy, here we go. Singling out the lesbians (apparently men weren't bad enough to get mentioned this time). As pointed out before, there was alot of things that people would consider "sexually immoral" going on back then; including stuff that had little to do with the gender of your partner. But just like the case of Sodom, queers get singled out as the ones sending us to hell.

Seriously, are people aware that back then there were numerous groups that were committing sexual rituals? That there were rumors of pedophile, necrophilia and all other crazy stuff? Is homosexuality really the biggest sin here?

Four minutes later, it gets even worse...

Some people say "what is the Corinth culture like?"... its like Seattle!... Whole bunch of sexual immorality, lesbians, gays. Its not like Lake Forest Part, but is like Capital Hill..

Are you kidding me here? Out of all the acts of sexual immortality you have to bash on the queer community as if they are a crime itself? Do you seriously have to demonize Capital Hill, and ignore other areas of high "sexual immorality" in Seattle? You telling me sexual immorality does not exist in the U-District or Belltown? Oh wait, they are straight so it is not that bad. But those queer folk? They are going to hell.

This stuff disturbs me on so many levels. Not only does this just spread homophobia, but it creates a false impression on the people listening. By focusing on such narrow things, they are making other "immoral" acts seem less dangerous and more acceptable. Personally, I find adultery and sleeping around much more dangerous then what gender someone decides to be with. Of course many of these young people will have no problem with this because the only thing they hear is homophobia; its ok as long as you are not gay or lesbian.

And this is how good "Christian families" end up having pregnant teenagers; its not that bad because they are straight! Seriously, I know godless queer people who live a more "Christian" love life then some of these people. Wanna know why? Because its this focus bashing queers over producing decent moral human beings.

Paul is saying this.. that women ought to act and look like women and men ought to act and look like men... (49 minutes in)

Yes, because we all know there has been a strong consistent definition of masculine and femininity in history. Those terms have never change. Ironically, this point was made indirectly earlier.

What does it mean to be bi-racial for me is...

-Not having the pleasure of having a family tree you can look back upon and be proud of because your family does not know its past;

-Not feeling welcome in the community that you wish to be part of because they do not approve the color of a parent;

-To be constantly referred to as the race of a father who was never there, and a grandfather who probably raped your grandmother;

-To constantly have to explain your heritage because your name does not match the what the person expected to see;

-To not have any heroes to look up to because almost every bi-racial figure underplay their heritage and even hide their ethnic features to be more presentable (IE Amerie; Tasha Reid early in her career);

-To have to constantly be bombarded by a society that only presents bi-racial females as sex objects (if their heritage is mentioned) and not as human beings;

-To have people constantly pegging you as a race you have no connection to;

-Not knowing what ethnicity to mark when filling out applications or surveys;

-Not having any student or ethnic group to represent the problems you face as a bi-racial;

-Being forced to be either "white" or a "model minority" who should not care about the suffering of other human beings caused by bigotry;

-Never feeling comfortable for who you are because in the end, you have no culture or community to go too;

-Being mocked because you call yourself an "Asian American," the heritage of your mother;

-Being the descendent of a man who probably had "yellow fever" and was hoping for an obediant Asian wife to serve him;

-Feeling like you can never be comfortable with yourself because your own self image does not match society.

A decent article from the Daily!

As many people would know, I have a strong distaste for the UW Daily. This stems from the fact that I find the quality of the Daily's writing ability to be terrible with opinions that are borderline offensive. With that in mind, I was surprised to read an article that actually made a good point today by Rachel Solomon.

This is just one example of the sexism female politicians face for choosing such a public career. Either they’re portrayed as sexless vehicles for their little tykes, or, conversely, they’re hypersexualized and commodified.

During voting season, the nation swelled with disapproval after receipts from Palin’s lavish campaign makeover went public. When Hillary Clinton dared to don a V-neck blouse, we couldn’t stop gabbing about her cleavage. What’s wrong with us? Are we unable to separate female politicians from their gender?

As much as I love to bash on Sarah Palin more, she is correct. The amount of sexism and mistreatment towards female politicians in the media is ridiculous. The amount of press Sarah Palin got on her looks (remember all the commentary on her wink during the debate?) and the ridicolous comments against Hillary Clinton that used sexist code words (The comments on her voice were just sickening). Sarah Palin should be ripped for being a corrupt right-winger, the entire female gender does not need to be dragged down with her.