This is another example of how workers got used to something and don’t want to go back to the way things were before the pandemic:
Unionized workers stage a rally in front of Seoul Metropolitan Government office, Tuesday, in protest of the local government’s plan to resume late-night subway operations. Yonhap
Unionized workers of Seoul Metro are strongly protesting against the city government’s plan to resume late-night subway operations, a measure proposed to tackle the worsening nighttime taxi shortage in the capital.
The union that represents workers of a part of Seoul’s subway system which runs lines 1 to 8, held a rally in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Government office, Tuesday, demanding the local government withdraw its plan to extend operating hours.
“Late-night operations were suspended not only because of the coronavirus pandemic but also due to worsening operating losses, which nearly pushed the operator into bankruptcy. It is difficult to understand why the government has abruptly announced resumption of late-night operations, without any measures to resolve these issues,” the union said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the metropolitan government said it will extend subway operating hours on weekdays until 1 a.m., thereby increasing operations by one hour from the current midnight closing time, starting at some point in June.
Civic group demands withdrawal of U.S. troops from Korea Members of a civic group chant a slogan demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea during a rally held in Yongsan, Seoul, on May 20, 2022, hours before the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden for a three-day visit to South Korea. (Yonhap)
Anti-Russia protest Ukrainian nationals in South Korea and their supporters rally near the Russian Embassy in Seoul on Feb. 27, 2022, to protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Yonhap)
Small business owners have been getting hammered by COVID restrictions and it appears they may have had enough:
Small business owners hold a protest rally against state anti-virus measures near Gwanghwamun Square on Feb. 15, 2022. (Yonhap)
Hundreds of restaurant and other small business owners demonstrated in central Seoul on Tuesday, demanding the government lift business hour curfews and sufficiently compensate them for losses from the prolonged anti-virus restraints.
Some 200 members of the so-called emergency association of small business hit by COVID-19 gathered near Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul in a protest rally calling for the right to survival.
Calling for special probe into Daejang-dong scandal Lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party hold a rally in front the judiciary and legislation committee at the National Assembly in Seoul on Jan. 10, 2022, calling for a probe by an independent counsel into a suspicious land development project in the Daejang-dong district in Seongnam, south of Seoul, allegedly involving Lee Jae-myung, former Seongnam mayor and the current presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Against Park Geun-hye’s pardon Members of leftist civic organizations hold a news conference near the presidential office in Seoul on Dec. 27, 2021, expressing strong opposition to presidential amnesty for jailed former President Park Geun-hye. (Yonhap)
Rally against COVID-19 vaccine pass system for youths A parent holds her child as protestors stage a rally at the government complex in Sejong, central South Korea, on Dec. 9, 2021, to demand the government withdraw its plan to expand the COVID-19 vaccine pass system to teenagers. The system requires them to present COVID-19 vaccination or negative test certificates at multiuse facilities, including public study rooms and cram schools, a measure that critics say amounts to forcing people to get vaccinated. (Yonhap)
Remember when the Korean media was in lockstep condemning South Korean conservatives for rallying last year against President Moon? The leftist organization, KCTU has held multiple rallies since then and threatening to hold illegal “guerrilla rallies” to get around COVID restrictions with hardly any criticism from the media:
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) hold a massive street rally in Seoul, in this file photo dated July 3, 2021. (Yonhap)
The Seoul city government has prohibited South Korea’s major umbrella labor group from staging street rallies this month in accordance with a law on preventing the spread of infectious diseases, an official said Sunday.
The measure came in response to a formal report submitted by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) on its plan to hold outdoor rallies in some areas of the capital on Oct. 20. The KCTU stated it will carry out a general strike on the day.
City authorities, however, sent an official document to the KCTU notifying it of a decision to forbid such rallies. The city government plans to maintain a ban on street rallies as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, with stringent social distancing restrictions in place.
It raises the possibility that KCTU members will again push for “guerrilla-style” illicit rallies as they did in downtown Seoul in July that led to the arrest of the labor organization’s leader, Yang Kyung-soo.
Under the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, the Seoul mayor is empowered to prohibit rallies in the city.
You can read more at the link, but as much as I dislike the KCTU at some point they need to be allowed to hold their rallies along with other organizations. As South Korea is quickly increasing its vaccination status there has to come a point where a level is reached where groups can gather again. Protests and rallies are a strong part of the democratic process in South Korea.
Vegans’ rally A vegan wearing a mask of a fish is caught in a net, as members of the Korea Vegan Union hold a rally in Seoul on June 8, 2021, to call for people to go vegan as part of efforts to improve their health and the marine environment and to mark World Ocean Day that fell the same day. (Yonhap)
Calling for pardon for Samsung leader Residents and officials of the southeastern county of Uiryeong, the birthplace of the late Samsung founder Lee Byung-cheol, call for President Moon Jae-in to pardon imprisoned Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong during a rally on May 12, 2021. (Yonhap)
