Thousands of members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) stage a rally at Gwanghwamun Plaza in downtown Seoul on June 30, 2017, demanding the government raise the minimum wage and employ all nonregular workers as regular employees. (Yonhap)
This is yet another example of how empowered the anti-American left currently is in South Korea:
Members of civic groups demonstrate in front of the Uijeongbu Sports Complex on June 10 in protest against the concert. / Yonhap
Korean singers on Saturday boycotted a government-backed concert for United States Forces Korea troops after workers and netizens revived a bitter episode involving the American military.
The municipal government of Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi Province organized the concert to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 2nd Infantry Division, which is stationed in the city.
USFK commander Vincent Brooks, the 8th U.S. Army commanding general Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal, 50 officers and 400 soldiers as well as more than 3,000 civilians attended the free concert at the Uijeongbu Sports Complex.
But the musicians invited ― including soloist Insooni, K-pop bands EXID, Oh My Girl, Sweet Sorrow, punk band Crying Nut and rapper SanE ― neither showed up nor performed.
Insooni, 61, whose father was an African-American USFK soldier, told the audience at the start of the concert that she would not perform her three songs.
Shorty after this, the audience was told that all planned performances had been cancelled, causing many people to leave.
The concert, scheduled for three-and-a-half hours, was cut short by an hour, and went ahead with gigs by the 8th Army Band, the city orchestra and dancing troupe, a gukak (Korean traditional music) band and a taekwondo demonstration.
The boycott stems from a tragedy in 2002 when a 2nd Infantry unit tank accidentally ran over and killed two female middle school students on a street in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province.
Even though the unit commander apologized and compensation was paid, two soldiers were found not guilty of killing the students because a U.S. military court at Camp Casey in Dongducheon ruled their deaths were an accident. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but for those that have not, I highly recommend reading my entire prior posting on the 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident that provides the context of what happened:
The threats against these groups must have been very serious considering that Insooni pulled out of the concert and her father was a USFK servicemember and grew up around US military bases in Korea. So who was behind the threats? None other than the anti-US Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU):
Hours before the event, 10 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ northern Gyeonggi branch also demonstrated against the city government in front of the complex.
A confederation spokesperson said, “Forcing students to congratulate USFK’s establishment with celebrities goes against our educational ethics,” according to the Chosun Ilbo.
The KCTU also played a key role in the violent 2008 anti-US beef protests. Yes you heard that right these thugs from the KCTU launched violent protests against US hamburgers and steaks being sold in South Korea.
US beef protestors beat a Korean riot policeman in 2008.
10 years of conservative rule had forced the KCTU and other anti-US groups to lower their profile after the anti-US beef protests since the government took action against them and put their leaders in jail. With the new Moon Jae-in administration in charge, it is clear that these leftist agitators feel they have free reign to once again conduct aggressive anti-US activities just like what we just saw happen in Uijongbu. Expect more of this to happen in the coming months and years.
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), South Korea’s second-largest umbrella labor union, hold a rally in front of the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on July 4, 2016, calling for the release of its jailed leader. In a high-profile ruling the same day, the court sentenced KCTU leader Han Sang-gyun to five years in jail for leading last year’s violent rallies in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap)
A crowd of protesters rally for improvements in South Korean labor law in a public demonstration organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the country’s second-largest umbrella union, in downtown Seoul on May 1, 2016. (Yonhap)
Han Sang-gyun (L), chief of an umbrella union, walks out with Ven. Dobeop from a building at Jogye Temple in Seoul on Dec, 10, 2015, to turn himself in to the police. Han has been taking shelter at the temple since Nov. 16 after police sought to arrest him on suspicion of organizing a mass rally on Nov. 14 that turned violent. The police were about to force their way into the temple to arrest Han, but after talks with Jogye officials, Han decided to end his refuge. (Yonhap)
So does anyone agree with the Korean court that the KCTU can be trusted to hold a peaceful rally this weekend in Seoul?:
A court has ruled against a police move to ban a rally planned for Saturday in central Seoul by civic, labor and farmers groups that held a massive anti-government demonstration on Nov. 14.
The Seoul Administrative Court said Thursday that it had accepted the request from the groups to annul the police ban on their second rally.
The decision comes five days after police announced a prohibition of the Dec. 5 rally requested by the groups, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), citing a possible repeat of the violence between police and protesters at the previous demonstration.
“It is unreasonable to presume that the second rally will be violent only because the organizers are the same to the first one,” the court said. “The organizers have repeatedly said they will hold the second one peacefully.” [Korea Times]
This is one of these only in Korea stories where Buddhists are in conflict with leftist anti-government thugs who are hiding from authorities in their temple:
A monk at Jogye Temple in downtown Seoul tries to calm down a devotee, who is urging Korean Confederation of Trade Unions head Han Sang-gyun to stop seeking refuge there, in the temple’s grounds which are milling with Buddhists, civic activists and journalists, Tuesday. / Yonhap
Calls are mounting from citizens who attend the Jogye Temple for the head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), Han Sang-gyun, who has taken refuge from police there, to stop “abusing” the place in pursuit of a political agenda and face investigation.
Such objections are rare, as the temple and other religious facilities have long been used in Korea as sanctuaries for social activists on the run from the authorities.
The head of the nation’s second-largest umbrella union is on the police’s wanted list for refusing to appear in court on charges of organizing illegal rallies. While evading police, he appeared at the massive anti-government rally in Seoul on Nov. 14 and then took refuge at the temple.
As he has remained there for over two weeks, frustration is running high among those who go to the temple because it has become the center of a political confrontation and is surrounded by more than 500 police officers and a large number of media crews.
During his stay, Han has continued to be active online, including posting a message calling for another massive rally on Dec. 5.
According to the temple, a group of Buddhists attempted to forcibly kick the labor activist out of the temple Monday afternoon, saying Han and the KCTU were disturbing their right to meditate in silence. But the effort failed, because Han vigorously resisted during a scuffle. Approximately 10 other KCTU leaders who had taken refuge in the temple with Han were all forced out. This was the first attempt by citizens who use the temple, not law enforcement authorities, to force the activists to leave. [Korea Times]
This sounds like an off the cuff remark that President Park should not have said because as bad as the KCTU is they are not ISIS. With that said if the KCTU would not hold violent protests there would be no need for masks in the first place:
South Korean President Park Geun Hye on Tuesday (Nov 24) called for a ban on masks at demonstrations, less than two weeks after huge anti-government protests rocked Seoul, as she warned “terrorist elements” may infiltrate demonstrations.
The president also drew parallels between masked protesters and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – prompting organisers of the recent rally to say her comments had left them “speechless”.
More than 60,000 people protested against the conservative government’s push for labour reform and state-issued history textbooks in Seoul on Nov 14, in the biggest protest in the country for nearly a decade.
Many scuffled with police, who responded with water cannon and liquid pepper spray, leaving dozens injured and one protester in a critical condition.
Police have come under fire for what critics describe as excessive use of force, while about 200 demonstrators are being investigated after dozens of police buses were damaged.
Park described the clashes on Nov 14 as an “unacceptable” incident and called for “strong measures” against the protesters, especially those in masks.
“At a time when acts of terrorism are taking many lives around the world, some terrorist elements may sneak into such protests and pose a threat to the lives of our people,” she said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
“In particular, masks in protests should not be tolerated. Isn’t that what the ISIS is doing these days, with their faces hidden like that?” she added. [New Straits Times]
The pro-Kim regime lackeysin the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions were able to mobilize a pretty impressive number of people to protest the decision to implement state approved history textbooks and passing regulations allowing companies to more easily lay off older workers to help younger workers find jobs. The protest was the largest since the anti-US beef protests in 2008. These history books have not even been written yet, but I would not be surprised if like the anti-US beef craziness of 2008 that these textbooks end up being much to do about nothing. However, it gives the leftists in the KCTU reason to mobilize and bash the Park government:
Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched in Seoul on Saturday in what police believed was the largest protest in the South Korean capital in nearly a decade.
About 80,000 people were expected to turn up for the downtown rallies that were to stretch into the evening, according to an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules.
The marches, organized by an umbrella labor union and civic groups, brought together protesters with a diverse set of grievances against the government of conservative President Park Geun-hye, including her business-friendly labor policies and a decision to require middle and high schools to use only state-issued history textbooks in classes from 2017.
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions briefly clashed with police who unsuccessfully tried to detain KCTU President Han Sang-goon during a news conference, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. A Seoul court had issued an arrest warrant for Han over a failed court appearance, after he was indicted for his involvement in organizing a May protest that turned violent.
Demonstrators, many of them wearing masks and carrying banners, occupied a major downtown street and began marching between tight perimeters created by police buses, intended to block them from entering large roads leading to the presidential Blue House. A large number of police, many wearing helmets and body armor, move swiftly to flank the demonstrators.
This was probably the largest crowd seen in a demonstration in Seoul since 2008, when people poured onto the streets to protest the government’s decision to resume U.S. beef imports amid lingering mad cow fears, said the Seoul police official. [Korea Times]
