>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 00:48:10 EST > >In a message dated 28/10/00 11:15:17 Pacific Standard Time, >[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > ><< Subj: From Seattle to Seoul > Date: 28/10/00 11:15:17 Pacific Standard Time > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (abdel tak) > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], >[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > From Seattle to Seoul > Al Ahram October 26 - Novemeber 1 > By Faiza Rady > > Play it again, Sam? Trailing Seattle, Davos, > Washington DC, Melbourne and Prague, the stage was set > last > Friday in Seoul for yet another round of > confrontation between a high-powered international > trade organisation > meeting and the anti-globalisation movement. > Since last December's successful disruption of the > Seattle World > Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting, the scene has > by now acquired an aura of d�j�-vu. All major > international > trade summits are met with protests. > > On 20 October, selected areas of the South Korean > capital resembled a battle front in the making. A > 30,000-man-strong police contingent equipped with > water cannons was mobilised to use force against > "trouble > makers" among the 20,000 protesters and secure a > demonstration-free zone to the Asia-Europe (ASEM) > heads > of state attending the summit. > > Established in 1994 to counter growing US market > hegemony in both Asia and Europe, ASEM has been > criticised for being nothing more than a > prestigious "talking shop" in an already overly > congested summit circuit. > > But the Seoul summit had real ambitions. The idea > was to create a potent Euro-Asian free market bloc, > geared > to effectively compete with the North American > giant. "The destiny of the world is largely controlled > by the > Asia-Europe-United States triangle," explained > French President Jacques Chirac. "The weak link was > Europe-Asia, and that's exactly what we want to > strengthen." > > Accounting for half of the world's production, > ASEM has indeed the potential to join the major > league. Hence the Europeans' emphasis > on the need to restructure the Asian economies. > > Given the > high stakes, it was crucial that South Korean > President Kim Dae -jung use an > iron fist > to secure the summit's success from interference by > vociferous labour unions > and the > Seattle-style anti-globalisation movement. > > > Nevertheless, the movement would not be quelled -- > despite the state of siege. An > estimated > 4,000 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade > Unions (KCTU), > supported > by student activists, scuffled with 3,000 > baton-wielding policemen as they > tried to > break the security barriers protecting the summit's > no-man's land. "ASEM, which > was > established to overcome American supremacy, has been > following in US footsteps > only for > the sake of capitalist gains, and has destroyed the > lives of labourers and people > in Third > World countries," said the protesters in a statement. > > At > another site, 20 prominent labour leaders, including > Dan Byung-ho, president of the > Korea > Metal Workers Federation (KMWF), also clashed with the > police when they tried > to > deliver a letter to the foreign leaders. But to no > avail. Tucked away behind their > cordoned > safe haven at the summit venue, the leaders of 25 > Asian and European > nations > could conveniently ignore the activists' message . > > Meanwhile > the conference hall was reverberating with rhetoric > about human rights and > democracy, as foreign heads of state hailed > President Kim Dae-jung for his distinguished record on > these issues. > > However, over and beyond the talk about democracy > lurks another reality. The International Confederation > of Free Trade Unions' > annual report denounces Kim Dae-jung's > administration for its violation of the Korean > workers' right to organise, and the consistent > arrest of trade unionists. > > After the gregarious back-slapping subsided, ASEM > participants turned to serious business. ASEM lauded > South Korea for having > achieved a brilliant economic recovery after the > 1997 stock market crash, which left regional economies > in shambles. Europeans, in > particular, stressed that the country's success > story was contingent on Kim Dae-jung's neo-liberal > course, in line with the International > Monetary Fund's (IMF) standard prescriptions. > Enforcing tight fiscal and monetary policies and > increased liberalisation were the order > of the day. > > Things looked different on this side of the > police barricades. KMWF's Dan Byung-ho, who was > incidentally sentenced to two years in > prison for "inciting strike action" and > "conspiring to obstruct business", dismissed Korea's > success story as a standard neo-liberal > whitewash. > > While proponents of neo-liberalism rate macro > economic indicators like increased growth rates and > balanced budgets as models of > successful economic development, such indicators > detract from the real issues affecting ordinary > people's lives. IMF-imposed austerity > measures and privatisation included corporate > restructuring through massive lay-offs. Labour > "flexibility" legislation has created > sweeping joblessness in a country that has long > prided itself on its low unemployment level and on > providing job security to its work > force. Since the Kim Dae-jung administration's > deregulation of foreign investment, transnational > capital has acquired 30 per cent of > domestic stocks, transnationals move the economy > at will, and market volatility is rampant. As a > result, the disparity between rich and > poor has reached its highest point in history. > Addressing a cheering audience, Dan told the crowd: > "The fight against neo-liberal > globalisation will continue." > >> > > > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. 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