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.