Workers Vow to Defy Police Refusal to
Allow May Day Event in Seoul
( Vol.200104 No.90
)
Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) said yesterday it plans to go
ahead with the May Day celebrations in Taehangno, central Seoul, despite its
failure to receive police approval.
The KCTU had repeatedly applied to hold a demonstration in Taehangno as part
of May Day festivities, but every time the police refused to give them
permission, claiming it is illegal to stage a demonstration in the intended
area, as it is too close to a foreign embassy.
The current Law on Assembly and Demonstration forbids any kind of outdoor
rally or demonstration within 100 meters of foreign diplomatic missions.
``It is unacceptable for the police to not grant us approval for the street
march from Taehangno to Kwanghwamun, as they have already given authorization
for April 22 Earth Day events and Buddha's birthday celebrations on May 1 in the
same district,'' said a KCTU official.
``We will conduct the rally as planned,'' he said.
KCTU also plans to stage rallies in Sokcho, Kangwon-do, today to pressure the
government into allowing its vice-president Lee Gue-jae to attend the May Day
celebrations at Mt. Kumgang in North Korea. About 1,300 South and North Korean
laborers will get together at Mt. Kumgang from Monday for three days to hold the
first-ever joint event to celebrate May Day.
The government turned down Lee's application for his visit to the North on
grounds that he is now under investigation on charges of violating the National
Security Law.
Some 300 KCTU members, including Lee, will gather at the Sokcho port today
and demand that Lee be allowed to participate in the joint May Day event.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), another major
umbrella union, said they would stage a massive outdoor demonstration at Seoul
Station on May Day to protest the recent arrest of several bank unionists. The
FKTU had initially planned to conduct a ceremony indoors, but changed their
plans when several unionists were arrested on Friday for leading bank strikes
last December.
But the FKTU said they will participate in the inter-Korean May Day
celebrations as planned.
(Korea Times )
